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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. club — for dancing
  4. firm — steady
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. wind — moving air
  9. squash — the sport
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. club — for golf
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. wind — moving air
  21. club — a group
  22. firm — a company
  23. firm — decided
  24. squash — to crush

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