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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: band · squash · straw · mate · perch · cap · plane · saw

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. mate — to breed
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mate — a friend
  5. plane — a tool
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. saw — the tool
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. perch — the fish
  12. mate — a partner
  13. cap — a lid
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a music group
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. cap — a hat
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cap — of ice

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