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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: staff · pit · press · wax · land · clip · cue · mine

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. land — a country
  3. staff — a stick
  4. staff — employees
  5. land — ground
  6. pit — a hole
  7. land — to come down
  8. cue — for pool
  9. cue — a signal
  10. clip — to cut
  11. staff — employees
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. clip — for paper
  14. press — a publisher
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wax — to grow
  19. press — newspapers
  20. press — to push
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pit — in a race
  23. clip — a video
  24. mine — for digging

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com