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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — an illness
  3. net — after costs
  4. net — in sport
  5. last — finally
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. plane — a tool
  9. last — to go on
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. last — final
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. perch — the fish
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. dip — to sink
  24. net — for catching

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