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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: mate · season · clip · land · track · pop · net · prune

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. clip — to cut
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mate — to breed
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. track — to keep track
  8. net — after costs
  9. land — to come down
  10. mate — a partner
  11. track — a song
  12. pop — music
  13. net — for catching
  14. pop — to visit
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. season — in sport
  18. net — in sport
  19. clip — a video
  20. prune — to trim
  21. track — a path
  22. pop — soda
  23. prune — to trim
  24. season — of the year

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