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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: foot · cold · leaves · pound · net · row · race · clip

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — to cut
  4. race — a contest
  5. clip — for paper
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. row — to paddle
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. row — a line
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. race — the arms race
  17. clip — a video
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. race — humankind
  20. net — after costs
  21. cold — an illness
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. pound — a weight
  24. foot — a measure

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