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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: snap · clip · calf · tube · row · prune · last · stand

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. prune — to trim
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. tube — the underground
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. row — to paddle
  8. tube — a container
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. prune — to trim
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. stand — to bear
  14. row — a line
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. snap — to click
  18. last — to go on
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. clip — for paper
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. last — finally

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