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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: fork · clip · chip · tear · snap · degree · key · prune

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. clip — a video
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chip — to eat
  7. clip — for paper
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tear — from crying
  11. fork — in a road
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. snap — to click
  14. key — in music
  15. clip — to cut
  16. degree — from a university
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. prune — to trim
  19. tear — to rip
  20. degree — an amount
  21. key — for a lock
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. key — the most important part
  24. chip — for betting

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