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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. court — for sport
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. season — in sport
  7. court — of a king
  8. capital — money
  9. prune — to trim
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. season — of the year
  12. bat — the animal
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. capital — a city
  16. prune — to trim
  17. court — of law
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. squash — the sport
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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