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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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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. court — of a king
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. prune — to trim
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. court — of law
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. court — for sport
  11. prune — to trim
  12. mate — a friend
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. band — a ring
  15. game — a match
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a music group
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. squash — to crush
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mate — a partner
  24. mate — to breed

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