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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: prune · land · mark · squash · net · fine · rest · clip

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. net — after costs
  2. clip — for paper
  3. mark — a grade
  4. prune — to trim
  5. fine — all right
  6. mark — a trace
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. net — for catching
  9. fine — high quality
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rest — a break
  12. land — a country
  13. prune — to trim
  14. land — ground
  15. squash — the sport
  16. rest — what's left
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. squash — to crush
  21. clip — a video
  22. rest — what's left
  23. land — to come down
  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