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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: bat · track · clip · straw · spring · wax · cue · squash

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. track — a song
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. clip — to cut
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — a coil
  9. squash — to crush
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. spring — the season
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. clip — a video
  14. cue — a hint
  15. track — a path
  16. track — to keep track
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wax — to grow
  19. spring — of water
  20. cue — for pool
  21. squash — the sport
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. cue — a signal

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