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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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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: wind · last · racket · tube · row · mate · kid · straw

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — to breed
  5. wind — moving air
  6. last — to go on
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. tube — a container
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. row — to paddle
  11. mate — a friend
  12. last — final
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kid — child
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. tube — the underground
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. kid — to tease
  22. row — a line
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. last — finally

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