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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: chip · swing · spell · club · tear · face · bat · prune

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. chip — for betting
  5. swing — in golf
  6. spell — a short time
  7. prune — to trim
  8. face — part of the head
  9. swing — to play on
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. face — to confront
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — for golf
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chip — to eat
  18. club — a group
  19. spell — letters
  20. tear — from crying
  21. swing — music
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. spell — magic
  24. prune — to trim

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