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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. present — the time now
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. squash — to crush
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. kick — in football
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. squash — the sport
  17. game — a match
  18. prune — to trim
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. wind — moving air
  21. present — a gift
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. present — there
  24. game — wild animals

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