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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. net — in sport
  4. clip — a video
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. band — a ring
  7. ground — a position
  8. band — a music group
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. rash — a series
  12. net — for catching
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pit — in a race
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. pit — a hole
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. rash — hasty
  21. ground — crushed
  22. field — a subject
  23. ground — the earth
  24. clip — to cut

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