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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. rest — what's left
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. craft — a skill
  13. field — farmland
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. foot — a measure
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. cell — in biology
  21. craft — boats
  22. field — for sport
  23. bark — to shout
  24. field — a subject

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