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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 116 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: tear · clip · prune · wake · saw · club · fan · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. prune — to trim
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. club — for dancing
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. clip — to cut
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. club — for golf
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. club — a group
  14. tear — from crying
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wake — a trail
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. prune — to trim
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. saw — the tool

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