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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: last · swing · pit · shower · snap · trunk · clip · file

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. swing — music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. clip — a video
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. last — to go on
  9. shower — rain
  10. file — a tool
  11. swing — in golf
  12. pit — a hole
  13. clip — for paper
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. last — final
  16. shower — to wash
  17. file — a document
  18. snap — to click
  19. last — finally
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pit — in a race
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. trunk — of a car

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