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

Word bank: prune · court · pit · snap · net · wind · bat · deal

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. court — for sport
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. court — of law
  5. bat — the animal
  6. snap — to click
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. court — of a king
  9. deal — to handle
  10. pit — a hole
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. net — in sport
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. wind — moving air
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. pit — in a race
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. net — for catching
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wind — moving air

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