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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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468
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: fan · prune · swing · bass · snap · clip · band · bear

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. band — a ring
  4. clip — for paper
  5. swing — music
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bass — the fish
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bear — the animal
  14. clip — a video
  15. bass — low music
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. swing — to play on
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. band — a music group
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bear — the animal
  24. swing — in golf

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