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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: clip · prune · tear · swing · wind · mate

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. prune — to trim
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a friend
  5. wind — moving air
  6. swing — to play on
  7. prune — to trim
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wind — moving air
  10. swing — music
  11. mate — a partner
  12. tear — from crying
  13. swing — in golf
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — for paper
  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