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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 120 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: arm · prune · ground · squash · net · clip · perch · patient

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. squash — to crush
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. net — after costs
  5. ground — crushed
  6. clip — a video
  7. prune — to trim
  8. clip — to cut
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — the sport
  13. net — in sport
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. net — for catching
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. ground — a position
  19. perch — the fish
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. clip — for paper
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. ground — the earth

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