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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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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: bear · wave · straw · squash · trunk · cell · capital · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bear — the animal
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. spring — of water
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. capital — a city
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. squash — to crush
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. squash — the sport
  23. spring — the season
  24. bear — the animal

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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