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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: rush · kid · roll · wax · spring · clip · bound · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — for paper
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. spring — the season
  7. bound — certain
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bound — obliged
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — a coil
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. clip — a video
  20. kid — child
  21. bound — tied together
  22. wax — to grow
  23. roll — a list
  24. wax — in the ear

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