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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. field — a subject
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. prune — to trim
  8. field — farmland
  9. face — to point toward
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bat — the animal
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. field — for sport
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. face — to confront
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chair — a leader

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