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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mug — a cup
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. court — for sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mug — a face
  11. court — of a king
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. spring — the season
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. pound — a weight
  18. court — of law
  19. spring — a coil
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. spring — of water
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mug — to rob
  24. prune — to trim

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