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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. net — after costs
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — to cut
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. object — to protest
  7. prune — to trim
  8. degree — temperature
  9. net — in sport
  10. bat — the animal
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — for catching
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. object — an aim
  18. plane — a tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — government
  23. object — a thing
  24. clip — a video

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