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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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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: net · prune · chest · clip · chip · arm · stem · wind

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. prune — to trim
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stem — to come from
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. net — for catching
  11. chest — a box
  12. clip — a video
  13. net — after costs
  14. clip — for paper
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. wind — moving air
  17. net — in sport
  18. prune — to trim
  19. chip — to eat
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. chip — for betting
  24. arm — part of the body

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