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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 120 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: wind · last · straw · mate · clip · cue · hand · spell

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. mate — to breed
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cue — a signal
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. hand — in cards
  7. last — final
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spell — letters
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. cue — for pool
  12. mate — a friend
  13. cue — a hint
  14. spell — magic
  15. mate — a partner
  16. spell — a short time
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wind — moving air
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. hand — help

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