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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 116 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. net — for catching
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. bat — the animal
  7. tear — from crying
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. net — after costs
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. net — in sport
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. tear — from crying
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. court — of law

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