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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: clip · suit · straw · shower · pitcher · last · bulb · band

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. last — finally
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. band — a music group
  8. suit — in cards
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. last — to go on
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bulb — for light
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bulb — for light
  15. band — a ring
  16. last — final
  17. clip — a video
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. suit — clothes
  22. shower — rain
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. suit — to fit

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