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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: prune · net · trunk · bank · capital · clip · patient · mine

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  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. bank — of a river
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. mine — for digging
  5. net — in sport
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bank — for money
  9. clip — for paper
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — a city
  12. prune — to trim
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — money
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. clip — a video
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bank — for money
  22. net — after costs
  23. patient — a sick person
  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