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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. net — after costs
  3. shower — rain
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. club — for golf
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — the animal
  9. net — for catching
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. club — a group
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. shower — to wash
  19. net — in sport
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. club — for dancing
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — a straw man

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