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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: rush · date · hand · pop · clip · leaves · club · trunk

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. clip — to cut
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. clip — a video
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. clip — for paper
  9. hand — help
  10. club — for golf
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. club — a group
  13. club — for dancing
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. pop — music
  17. rush — hurry
  18. pop — soda
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. hand — in cards
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. date — the fruit
  23. pop — to visit
  24. leaves — to go away

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