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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. pass — a permit
  5. hand — help
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wake — a trail
  11. fork — in a road
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — farmland
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. field — a subject
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. field — for sport
  23. fork — to eat with
  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