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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: clip · cue · straw · calf · spring · wax · lean · fine

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fine — high quality
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. lean — thin
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cue — a signal
  11. spring — the season
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cue — for pool
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spring — a coil
  17. lean — to bend
  18. clip — a video
  19. spring — of water
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. wax — to grow
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. fine — all right

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