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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: file · dip · straw · squash · ground · wax · clip · kid

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. file — a line of people
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. clip — for paper
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. squash — to crush
  7. kid — to tease
  8. clip — a video
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. squash — the sport
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. ground — a position
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wax — to grow
  23. dip — to sink
  24. file — a tool

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