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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: last · root · leaves · bark · tear · swing · pitch · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. tear — from crying
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. root — of a word
  8. bark — to shout
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. tear — from crying
  13. last — to go on
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. tear — to rip
  17. root — the cause
  18. last — finally
  19. swing — in golf
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — completely
  22. swing — music
  23. last — final
  24. root — of a plant

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