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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: ball · clip · bore · straw · row · dip · squash · rest

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. dip — to sink
  4. clip — for paper
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. ball — a great time
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rest — a break
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. ball — a dance
  14. rest — what's left
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bore — to tire
  17. rest — what's left
  18. bore — to drill
  19. squash — to crush
  20. row — to paddle
  21. squash — the sport
  22. row — a line
  23. clip — a video
  24. straw — a straw man

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