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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 120 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: bear · cell · swing · clip · degree · prune

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. cell — in biology
  4. swing — to play on
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. clip — a video
  8. bear — the animal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. degree — temperature
  11. swing — music
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — an amount
  14. clip — for paper
  15. swing — in golf
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison

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