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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 116 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: cell · net · snap · prune · lash · game · rule · race

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. cell — a phone
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. net — in sport
  6. prune — to trim
  7. game — a match
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. rule — government
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. net — after costs
  16. race — the arms race
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. game — wild animals
  19. snap — to click
  20. cell — in biology
  21. net — for catching
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. rule — a law
  24. rule — to rule out

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