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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 120 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 · rest · squash · stock · spell · mine · snap · clip

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mine — for digging
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — a video
  6. stock — goods
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. spell — a short time
  9. squash — the sport
  10. spell — letters
  11. clip — to cut
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. clip — for paper
  20. spell — magic
  21. stock — shares
  22. rest — what's left
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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