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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. court — of law
  3. prune — to trim
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. court — for sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. prune — to trim
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. present — a gift
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — there
  18. court — of a king
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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