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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. club — for golf
  4. field — farmland
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. squash — the sport
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. club — a group
  9. prune — to trim
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — a subject
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. club — for dancing
  15. squash — to crush
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. row — to paddle
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. prune — to trim
  21. shower — rain
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. squash — the vegetable

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