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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. band — a music group
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. squash — to crush
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. squash — the sport
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. band — a ring
  18. spring — the season
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. spring — a coil
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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