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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 · clip · tear · present · stock · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. swing — music
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. clip — to cut
  7. tear — from crying
  8. clip — a video
  9. swing — in golf
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. present — a gift
  14. tear — to rip
  15. stock — shares
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. tear — from crying

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