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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.

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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. land — to come down
  3. net — in sport
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. band — a music group
  7. foot — a measure
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. track — a path
  10. track — a song
  11. net — after costs
  12. clip — to cut
  13. fine — all right
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. clip — a video
  16. band — a ring
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. land — ground
  21. track — to keep track
  22. net — for catching
  23. clip — for paper
  24. land — a country

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