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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 116 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. tear — from crying
  5. net — after costs
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tear — to rip
  8. wound — an injury
  9. dip — to sink
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. net — in sport
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. net — for catching
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. fork — in a road
  24. racket — for tennis

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