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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. rash — a series
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. cell — in biology
  6. prune — to trim
  7. rash — hasty
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bass — low music
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. mine — for digging
  12. cell — a phone
  13. net — after costs
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. net — for catching
  16. court — for sport
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. court — of law
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. net — in sport
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. prune — to trim

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