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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: kid · clip · wave · land · season · pop · bulb · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. season — in sport
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. kid — child
  8. land — ground
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bulb — for light
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. season — of the year
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. land — to come down
  18. pop — to visit
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. clip — to cut
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. pop — soda
  23. land — a country
  24. pop — 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