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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: trunk · race · clip · snap · tear · spell · prune · present

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. clip — a video
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. present — the time now
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. clip — to cut
  7. spell — magic
  8. present — a gift
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. spell — a short time
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — to trim
  16. tear — from crying
  17. race — a contest
  18. snap — to click
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tear — to rip
  22. present — there
  23. spell — letters
  24. clip — for paper

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