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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pop · net · field · cold · racket · mouse · clip · lie

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. net — in sport
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. net — for catching
  6. pop — to visit
  7. field — farmland
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — not warm
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. pop — music
  14. field — for sport
  15. lie — to recline
  16. pop — soda
  17. clip — a video
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. field — a subject
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. cold — an illness
  24. net — after costs

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