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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wound — an injury
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. perch — the fish
  10. hand — help
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. track — a song
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. track — to keep track
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bat — the animal
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. track — a path
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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