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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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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: last · rock · pop · prune · bat · clip · swing · club

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — for golf
  5. rock — a stone
  6. prune — to trim
  7. swing — in golf
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pop — music
  10. clip — for paper
  11. prune — to trim
  12. swing — to play on
  13. club — a group
  14. pop — to visit
  15. bat — the animal
  16. rock — music
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. last — final
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. swing — music
  21. clip — to cut
  22. last — finally
  23. clip — a video
  24. last — to go on

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