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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: calf · pitcher · swing · wake · prune · net · field · clip

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. swing — in golf
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. clip — a video
  8. net — after costs
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. net — in sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. net — for catching
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. swing — music
  20. clip — to cut
  21. prune — to trim
  22. swing — to play on
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. wake — a trail

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