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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wax · squash · shower · mine · stick · field · nail · clip

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. shower — to wash
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wax — to grow
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. clip — a video
  13. shower — rain
  14. mine — for digging
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. clip — for paper
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. field — farmland
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. field — for sport
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. field — a subject
  24. nail — for a hammer

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