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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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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: clip · row · swing · prune · track · calf · chip · tear

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. clip — to cut
  3. prune — to trim
  4. track — a path
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. swing — in golf
  7. tear — from crying
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. tear — to rip
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. track — a song
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. chip — for betting
  15. clip — for paper
  16. row — a line
  17. row — to paddle
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. track — to keep track
  21. tear — from crying
  22. clip — a video
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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