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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 124 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.

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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: land · mate · clip · wound · sharp · straw · deal · bass

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bass — the fish
  7. sharp — clever
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. wound — an injury
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. mate — a friend
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. clip — to cut
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — for paper
  20. land — a country
  21. bass — low music
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. mate — a partner
  24. deal — an agreement

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