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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: kid · straw · march · cabinet · wax · foot · clip · bass

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bass — the fish
  3. kid — child
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wax — to grow
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bass — low music
  18. kid — to tease
  19. clip — a video
  20. foot — a measure
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. cabinet — ministers

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