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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.

Make a worksheet

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: straw · fall · kick · bass · spring · wind · pitcher · wave

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bass — low music
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bass — the fish
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. spring — the season
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. spring — a coil
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. fall — to drop
  21. spring — of water
  22. kick — in football
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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