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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: trunk · wax · season · game · clip · pit · squash · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. clip — to cut
  3. game — wild animals
  4. net — in sport
  5. pit — a hole
  6. clip — for paper
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wax — to grow
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. pit — in a race
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. net — for catching
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — of the year
  18. game — a match
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. clip — a video
  23. squash — the sport
  24. squash — to crush

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