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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. kid — to tease
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. branch — a division
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. pass — a permit
  10. spell — letters
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. spell — a short time
  17. roll — a list
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. spell — magic
  20. kid — child
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. calf — of the leg

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