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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: saw · clip · racket · straw · shower · spring · wake · sharp

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. spring — the season
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. spring — of water
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — to wash
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. saw — the tool
  21. wake — a trail
  22. spring — a coil
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. clip — to cut

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