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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: wound · spell · straw · snap · sharp · wax · clip · toast

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. spell — letters
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. toast — bread
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — magic
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — clever
  16. clip — a video
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wound — an injury

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