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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rush — hurry
  3. roll — a list
  4. clip — a video
  5. bank — for money
  6. swing — to play on
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. swing — music
  9. spring — the season
  10. net — for catching
  11. row — a line
  12. bank — of a river
  13. swing — in golf
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. spring — of water
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bank — for money
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spring — a coil
  20. roll — a cake
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. net — in sport
  23. clip — for paper
  24. row — a quarrel

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