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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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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: straw · wind · squash · vault · stem · clip · tear · cold

  1. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — a safe
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. clip — a video
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cold — an illness
  11. squash — the sport
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wind — moving air
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. tear — from crying
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. stem — to come from
  24. squash — to crush

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