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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. march — the month
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — for catching
  7. mine — for digging
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. clip — a video
  15. march — the month
  16. branch — a division
  17. clip — for paper
  18. march — music
  19. fine — high quality
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. fine — all right

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