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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. ground — crushed
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. swing — music
  5. key — the most important part
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bat — the animal
  8. prune — to trim
  9. court — of a king
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. key — for a lock
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. court — of law
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. court — for sport
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. key — in music
  21. swing — in golf
  22. ground — a position
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. prune — the fruit

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