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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cold — not warm
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. cold — an illness
  20. deal — to handle
  21. stand — to bear
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. stem — to come from
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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