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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. pit — a hole
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. craft — a skill
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. land — a country
  7. prune — to trim
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. net — after costs
  10. mine — for digging
  11. net — in sport
  12. craft — boats
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. net — for catching
  15. prune — to trim
  16. land — to come down
  17. kick — in football
  18. pit — in a race
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. land — ground
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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