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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: pitcher · craft · bulb · wave · wind · press · clip · straw

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. craft — boats
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. press — newspapers
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. craft — a skill
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. clip — a video
  18. press — a publisher
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. press — to push
  24. bulb — of a plant

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