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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: club · clip · straw · pit · chip · prune · pop · fan

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. club — a group
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — a video
  8. pit — a hole
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. prune — to trim
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. pop — to visit
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. pop — music
  18. club — for dancing
  19. chip — for betting
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pop — soda
  22. chip — to eat
  23. prune — to trim
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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