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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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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  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. squash — the vegetable
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. wind — moving air
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. squash — to crush
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. can — a tin
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — a video
  14. squash — the sport
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. can — a tin
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wind — moving air
  23. can — to be able to
  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