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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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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: tear · spring · craft · snap · clip · leaves · band · straw

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. craft — boats
  3. tear — from crying
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. clip — for paper
  8. tear — from crying
  9. snap — to click
  10. spring — a coil
  11. craft — a skill
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. band — a music group
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. tear — to rip
  19. clip — to cut
  20. band — a ring
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. clip — a video
  24. leaves — to go away

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