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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: board · fall · clip · rock · net · perch · toast · march

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. toast — bread
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. net — for catching
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. clip — a video
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. board — to get on
  13. clip — to cut
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fall — the season
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. board — a committee
  18. march — the month
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. perch — the fish
  21. march — the month
  22. net — in sport
  23. march — music
  24. rock — a stone

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