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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: hand · mouse · wake · snap · clip · straw · pound · spring

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. snap — to click
  7. hand — in cards
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. hand — help
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. spring — the season
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. clip — to cut
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. wake — a trail
  24. clip — for paper

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