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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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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: straw · tear · trunk · spell · swing · pound · board · clip

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. pound — a weight
  3. board — a committee
  4. swing — in golf
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tear — from crying
  7. swing — music
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. board — to get on
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. clip — for paper
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. clip — a video
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. spell — a short time
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. swing — to play on
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — letters

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