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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. clip — a video
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. date — the fruit
  5. net — in sport
  6. game — a match
  7. net — for catching
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. game — wild animals
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. prune — to trim
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. scale — size or range
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. scale — in music

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