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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. squash — to crush
  4. tube — the underground
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. tube — a container
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. rock — a stone
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rock — music
  17. last — to go on
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. last — final
  20. squash — the sport
  21. pound — a weight
  22. last — finally
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. bat — for baseball

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