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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. season — in sport
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. ground — the earth
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. season — of the year
  11. file — a document
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. file — a line of people
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ball — a great time
  17. ground — a position
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — in cards
  20. file — a tool
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. ball — a round shape

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