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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: mouse · squash · spring · wake · clip · land · mark · bat

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. spring — the season
  6. land — to come down
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. squash — to crush
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. spring — of water
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wake — a trail
  13. squash — the sport
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. mark — a trace
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. mark — a grade
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. land — ground
  22. land — a country
  23. clip — a video
  24. spring — a coil

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