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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pound — a weight
  4. mark — a grade
  5. file — a tool
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mark — a trace
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. stem — to come from
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. file — a line of people
  12. clip — for paper
  13. net — after costs
  14. swing — in golf
  15. swing — to play on
  16. net — for catching
  17. file — a document
  18. clip — a video
  19. swing — music
  20. game — wild animals
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. clip — to cut
  23. net — in sport
  24. stem — a stem cell

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