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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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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: rush · cold · wake · clip · hand · squash · bear · bound

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. squash — the sport
  3. clip — for paper
  4. hand — in cards
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cold — not warm
  9. clip — a video
  10. bound — obliged
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hand — help
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. clip — to cut
  21. squash — to crush
  22. bear — the animal
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. rush — to hurry

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