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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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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: straw · stem · squash · deal · tube · wave · kid · chest

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tube — the underground
  5. kid — child
  6. stem — to come from
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. squash — to crush
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. chest — of your body
  11. deal — to handle
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. squash — the sport
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. chest — a box
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. kid — to tease
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. tube — a container

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