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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. can — a tin
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. fall — to drop
  7. can — a tin
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. fall — to drop
  10. key — the most important part
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. key — for a lock
  13. game — wild animals
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fall — the season
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. game — a match
  20. key — in music
  21. can — to be able to
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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