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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: prune · craft · swing · pit · clip · race

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. swing — to play on
  3. clip — for paper
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. craft — a skill
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — a contest
  9. clip — to cut
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — music
  12. prune — to trim
  13. race — the arms race
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — in a race
  17. craft — boats
  18. clip — a video

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