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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 · prune · nail · pit · trunk · snap · net · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. net — in sport
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. pit — in a race
  9. clip — a video
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. net — after costs
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pit — a hole
  16. snap — to click
  17. net — for catching
  18. prune — to trim
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. prune — to trim
  24. clip — to cut

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