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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: staff · plane · straw · clip · fall · key · spring · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. fall — to drop
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fall — the season
  5. spring — the season
  6. key — in music
  7. staff — employees
  8. key — the most important part
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. club — for golf
  11. staff — a stick
  12. spring — a coil
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. fall — to drop
  16. key — for a lock
  17. plane — a tool
  18. spring — of water
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. staff — employees
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. club — a group
  23. clip — a video
  24. straw — a straw man

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