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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: squash · tube · hide · bat · bass · spring · date · clip

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. spring — a coil
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. tube — the underground
  6. clip — for paper
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bat — the animal
  9. spring — the season
  10. date — the fruit
  11. tube — a container
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. squash — the sport
  14. squash — to crush
  15. spring — of water
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bass — the fish
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. bass — low music
  22. clip — a video
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. hide — animal skin

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