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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 116 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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. game — wild animals
  6. file — a document
  7. drill — army training
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. drill — a practice
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. file — a line of people
  13. game — a match
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. chair — a leader
  16. file — a tool
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. branch — a division
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. drill — the tool
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. pitcher — a jug

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