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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: fan · straw · bat · tube · spring · wind · snap · deal

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. spring — the season
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. tube — the underground
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. snap — to click
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bat — the animal
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. deal — to handle

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