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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: wind · net · mug · game · clip · scale · prune · mate

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. mate — a partner
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. game — wild animals
  5. clip — to cut
  6. net — for catching
  7. scale — in music
  8. net — after costs
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mate — to breed
  11. net — in sport
  12. clip — a video
  13. mug — a face
  14. scale — size or range
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mate — a friend
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wind — moving air
  20. mug — a cup
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. mug — to rob
  23. game — a match
  24. scale — for weighing

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