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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 116 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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. race — a contest
  3. land — a country
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. net — for catching
  6. race — humankind
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. clip — for paper
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. race — the arms race
  11. net — after costs
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. net — in sport
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pound — a weight
  19. clip — a video
  20. land — ground
  21. sharp — clever
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. clip — to cut
  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