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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: bat · craft · clip · pound · wind · squash · mouse · straw

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. clip — for paper
  8. squash — the sport
  9. craft — boats
  10. squash — to crush
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. wind — moving air
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. pound — a weight
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. craft — a skill
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wind — moving air

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