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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 120 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: cell · craft · straw · snap · wind · spring · foot · clip

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. spring — a coil
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — a video
  6. foot — a measure
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. spring — the season
  9. cell — in biology
  10. snap — to click
  11. wind — moving air
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. cell — a phone
  14. craft — boats
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — of water
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. clip — to cut
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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