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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: pound · deal · trunk · spring · squash · band · straw · clip

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. spring — a coil
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — to handle
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. band — a ring
  12. spring — the season
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. pound — a weight
  18. squash — the sport
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. clip — for paper
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. spring — of water
  23. band — a music group
  24. pound — for dogs

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