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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: file · pound · prune · court · net · clip · dip · tear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a document
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. prune — to trim
  5. court — of a king
  6. clip — for paper
  7. file — a tool
  8. clip — a video
  9. tear — from crying
  10. net — after costs
  11. tear — to rip
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. clip — to cut
  16. file — a line of people
  17. tear — from crying
  18. dip — to sink
  19. prune — to trim
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. net — for catching
  23. court — of law
  24. net — in sport

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