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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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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: perch · clip · pit · net · march · hide · drill · band

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. drill — a practice
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. march — music
  6. band — a ring
  7. net — for catching
  8. drill — the tool
  9. march — the month
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. march — the month
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. clip — a video
  14. pit — in a race
  15. net — after costs
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. band — a music group
  18. perch — the fish
  19. clip — to cut
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. drill — army training
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pit — a hole
  24. hide — animal skin

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