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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. net — in sport
  4. spring — the season
  5. prune — to trim
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. rush — hurry
  9. net — after costs
  10. pit — in a race
  11. shower — rain
  12. pit — a hole
  13. spring — a coil
  14. net — for catching
  15. clip — a video
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. clip — to cut
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. shower — to wash
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. prune — to trim

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