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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wave · straw · spring · hand · lie · drill · squash · clip

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. squash — the sport
  4. squash — to crush
  5. hand — help
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. clip — a video
  9. spring — a coil
  10. drill — a practice
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. spring — of water
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. clip — for paper
  17. drill — army training
  18. drill — the tool
  19. clip — to cut
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. lie — to recline
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. wave — of the sea

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