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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: tube · clip · prune · face · squash · stock · net · drill

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. clip — for paper
  3. squash — to crush
  4. tube — a container
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. drill — army training
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. face — part of the head
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. clip — a video
  12. tube — the underground
  13. net — in sport
  14. prune — to trim
  15. drill — the tool
  16. face — to point toward
  17. drill — a practice
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. clip — to cut
  23. squash — the sport
  24. prune — to trim

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