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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: squash · wind · plane · calf · ball · wound · straw · chest

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. squash — the sport
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. wound — an injury
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chest — of your body
  9. ball — a dance
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. ball — a great time
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. squash — to crush
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. chest — a box
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. plane — a tool
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wind — moving air
  24. squash — the vegetable

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