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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: kid · swing · can · clip · club · temple · prune · calf

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — a video
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. clip — for paper
  7. swing — to play on
  8. club — a group
  9. club — for dancing
  10. kid — child
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. can — to be able to
  16. can — a tin
  17. swing — in golf
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. club — for golf
  20. clip — to cut
  21. swing — music
  22. can — a tin
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — side of the head

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