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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: march · ground · fork · clip · face · pound · lean · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. net — in sport
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. march — music
  10. ground — crushed
  11. net — after costs
  12. fork — in a road
  13. ground — a position
  14. face — to confront
  15. clip — a video
  16. face — part of the head
  17. lean — thin
  18. march — the month
  19. lean — to bend
  20. pound — a weight
  21. march — the month
  22. ground — the earth
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. face — to point toward

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