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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. hand — help
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. hand — in cards
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. mine — for digging
  13. game — a match
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. board — to get on
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. lean — to bend
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. game — wild animals
  24. straw — dry grass

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