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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 116 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: prune · wave · kid · fan · wake · squash · clip · band

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. clip — for paper
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. band — a music group
  9. prune — to trim
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wake — a trail
  12. clip — a video
  13. squash — to crush
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. clip — to cut
  16. kid — child
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. band — a ring
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. prune — to trim
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. band — a rubber band

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