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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. season — of the year
  3. clip — for paper
  4. net — after costs
  5. clip — a video
  6. season — in sport
  7. root — the cause
  8. clip — to cut
  9. branch — a division
  10. root — of a word
  11. net — in sport
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. kid — child
  14. root — of a plant
  15. object — to protest
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. band — a music group
  19. object — a thing
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. band — a ring
  22. object — an aim
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. kid — to tease

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