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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · track · fan · club · march · race · clip · scale

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. scale — size or range
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. scale — in music
  5. club — for golf
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. club — for dancing
  10. track — to keep track
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. clip — a video
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. club — a group
  16. march — music
  17. race — a contest
  18. clip — for paper
  19. track — a path
  20. race — the arms race
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. race — humankind
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fan — a supporter

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