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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: clip · spell · trunk · ground · cue · swing · mouse · squash

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. swing — to play on
  4. cue — a hint
  5. ground — crushed
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cue — a signal
  8. ground — a position
  9. squash — the sport
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. clip — to cut
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cue — for pool
  14. squash — to crush
  15. ground — the earth
  16. spell — magic
  17. spell — a short time
  18. clip — a video
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. clip — for paper
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. swing — music

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