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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: clip · race · mark · ground · net · pop · deal · tear

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. mark — a trace
  3. ground — crushed
  4. race — a contest
  5. net — after costs
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ground — a position
  8. clip — a video
  9. deal — to handle
  10. pop — soda
  11. race — humankind
  12. tear — to rip
  13. clip — to cut
  14. net — in sport
  15. mark — a grade
  16. race — the arms race
  17. clip — for paper
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. ground — the earth
  21. net — for catching
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pop — music
  24. pop — to visit

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