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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. stock — goods
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. clip — to cut
  7. net — in sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — shares
  11. rush — hurry
  12. clip — a video
  13. net — for catching
  14. clip — for paper
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. prune — to trim
  23. net — after costs
  24. wind — moving air

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