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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: last · straw · spell · squash · cell · wax · pop · wind

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. pop — to visit
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. spell — a short time
  6. pop — music
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. spell — letters
  12. squash — the sport
  13. cell — in biology
  14. pop — soda
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. wind — moving air
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. squash — to crush
  19. last — to go on
  20. spell — magic
  21. last — finally
  22. wax — to grow
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. last — final

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