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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: bark · net · patient · cold · pit · chip · prune · wax

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. prune — to trim
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chip — for betting
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. net — in sport
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. bark — to shout
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. pit — in a race
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. pit — a hole
  20. net — after costs
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. net — for catching
  24. wax — to grow

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