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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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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: bat · cue · net · mine · lie · pound · spring · prune

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  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. lie — an untruth
  2. cue — a hint
  3. lie — to recline
  4. net — after costs
  5. spring — of water
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. spring — a coil
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cue — for pool
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. net — in sport
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. mine — for digging
  17. cue — a signal
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. pound — a weight
  21. spring — the season
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  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