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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: spring · squash · straw · bay · branch · lash · kid · mate

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. spring — a coil
  4. kid — child
  5. branch — a division
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. squash — to crush
  8. mate — to breed
  9. kid — to tease
  10. squash — the sport
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. mate — a partner
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spring — of water
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. mate — a friend
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. spring — the season
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. lash — an eyelash

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