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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. drill — the tool
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. season — of the year
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. net — after costs
  8. land — ground
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. wake — a trail
  11. prune — to trim
  12. net — in sport
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. net — for catching
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. drill — a practice
  19. land — a country
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. season — in sport
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. drill — army training
  24. land — to come down

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