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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: toast · march · kid · track · squash · straw · spring · mouse

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  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. spring — of water
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. squash — to crush
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — a coil
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. track — a path
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. march — the month
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. track — a song
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. toast — bread
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. squash — the sport
  21. kid — to tease
  22. track — to keep track
  23. kid — child
  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