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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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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: wind · bark · band · clip · swing · bear · prune · branch

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. clip — for paper
  3. prune — to trim
  4. clip — to cut
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bear — the animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. swing — to play on
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bark — to shout
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. band — a music group
  15. swing — in golf
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. clip — a video
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bear — the animal
  20. wind — moving air
  21. band — a ring
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. branch — a division

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