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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wave · net · prune · sharp · clip · coach · spring · chest

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. chest — of your body
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. clip — a video
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. spring — of water
  11. clip — to cut
  12. net — for catching
  13. sharp — clever
  14. prune — to trim
  15. chest — a box
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. prune — to trim
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — the season
  23. net — in sport
  24. wave — of the sea

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