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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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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: mark · season · dip · pound · last · clip · land · net

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. net — in sport
  3. last — final
  4. land — ground
  5. season — of the year
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. net — after costs
  8. land — to come down
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. pound — a weight
  12. clip — for paper
  13. dip — to sink
  14. clip — to cut
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. last — finally
  17. last — to go on
  18. land — a country
  19. clip — a video
  20. season — in sport
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — a grade
  24. net — for catching

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