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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. shower — rain
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — to crush
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. ball — a dance
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. band — a music group
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. shower — to wash
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. band — a ring
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. squash — the sport
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. fork — in a road

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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