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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 120 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: spring · fork · ground · straw · wound · wax · deal · clip

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. deal — to handle
  3. clip — a video
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spring — the season
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. ground — a position
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ground — crushed
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fork — in a road
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wax — to grow
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wound — an injury
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. spring — of water

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