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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. court — of law
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. season — of the year
  8. court — for sport
  9. root — of a plant
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. court — of a king
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. root — of a word
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. season — in sport
  20. race — the arms race
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. root — the cause
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — humankind

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