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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: race · march · net · stem · bound · wound · file · fork

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. race — a contest
  3. file — a line of people
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. net — in sport
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. file — a tool
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. bound — obliged
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. race — humankind
  16. wound — an injury
  17. fork — in a road
  18. march — music
  19. net — for catching
  20. bound — certain
  21. race — the arms race
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bound — tied together
  24. file — a document

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