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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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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: swing · clip · spring · rest · tear · bass · snap · tube

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bass — the fish
  8. spring — a coil
  9. swing — music
  10. bass — low music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — in golf
  13. snap — to click
  14. rest — a break
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. tube — a container
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spring — of water
  21. tube — the underground
  22. spring — the season
  23. clip — to cut
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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