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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. club — a group
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. club — for golf
  16. club — for dancing
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chest — a box
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mark — a grade
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. branch — a division
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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