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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: tear · net · sharp · arm · content · prune · kid · press

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. net — after costs
  3. content — happy
  4. tear — from crying
  5. press — newspapers
  6. tear — from crying
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. kid — to tease
  9. prune — to trim
  10. content — the amount
  11. sharp — clever
  12. net — in sport
  13. tear — to rip
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. press — to push
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. kid — child
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. press — a publisher
  24. net — for catching

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