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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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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: plane · temple · straw · prune · clip · dip · calf · chest

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. clip — for paper
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. chest — of your body
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. plane — a tool
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. prune — to trim
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. chest — of your body
  14. dip — to sink
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. clip — a video
  17. chest — a box
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. clip — to cut
  24. calf — a young animal

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