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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 116 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: straw · bark · club · spring · hand · squash · face · tube

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. squash — the sport
  3. face — part of the head
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for dancing
  7. face — to point toward
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tube — the underground
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. spring — a coil
  12. face — to confront
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. spring — the season
  16. tube — a container
  17. hand — help
  18. bark — to shout
  19. club — for golf
  20. squash — to crush
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. tube — in a tire

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