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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. suit — in cards
  3. prune — to trim
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. prune — to trim
  6. clip — for paper
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bear — the animal
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bear — the animal
  14. suit — to fit
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. clip — a video
  21. suit — clothes
  22. hand — help
  23. clip — to cut
  24. hand — in cards

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