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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · racket · last · file · wax · shower · dip · straw

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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. racket — a loud noise
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. last — finally
  5. file — a document
  6. last — to go on
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. file — a tool
  10. clip — for paper
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wax — to grow
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. clip — to cut
  15. last — final
  16. dip — to sink
  17. file — a line of people
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. clip — a video
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. shower — rain
  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