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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 116 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. march — the month
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. clip — to cut
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. clip — a video
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. band — a ring
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. clip — for paper
  13. march — music
  14. band — a music group
  15. march — the month
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. field — a subject
  18. stem — to come from
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. field — for sport
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. field — farmland
  24. racket — for tennis

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