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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. clip — to cut
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. date — the fruit
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. net — for catching
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pit — a hole
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. pit — in a race
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. net — in sport
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bark — to shout
  19. stem — to come from
  20. clip — a video
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. mine — for digging

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