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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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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: wind · season · snap · mouse · tube · sharp · swing · prune

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. prune — to trim
  4. tube — the underground
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. swing — to play on
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. swing — in golf
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — clever
  13. season — of the year
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. snap — to click
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. swing — music
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. tube — a container
  23. season — in sport
  24. wind — to turn a key

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