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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: clip · fan · pop · chest · bat · swing · season · prune

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. season — in sport
  5. chest — a box
  6. pop — soda
  7. swing — music
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — to visit
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. chest — of your body
  15. clip — a video
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bat — the animal
  18. season — of the year
  19. pop — music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. prune — to trim
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. prune — to trim

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