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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: band · chair · kick · hide · tube · mug · straw · squash

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. kick — in football
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. squash — the sport
  10. tube — a container
  11. tube — the underground
  12. mug — a cup
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. band — a music group
  16. mug — a face
  17. mug — to rob
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a ring
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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