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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fine · race · root · net · clip · season · tear · land

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fine — all right
  4. root — of a plant
  5. net — for catching
  6. land — ground
  7. race — a contest
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. season — in sport
  10. land — to come down
  11. tear — to rip
  12. clip — a video
  13. net — in sport
  14. clip — to cut
  15. tear — from crying
  16. net — after costs
  17. root — of a word
  18. race — the arms race
  19. root — the cause
  20. season — of the year
  21. fine — high quality
  22. clip — for paper
  23. race — humankind
  24. land — a country

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