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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. field — a subject
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. clip — a video
  7. field — for sport
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. chair — a leader
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. craft — a skill
  14. squash — to crush
  15. craft — boats
  16. field — farmland
  17. squash — the sport
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. pitcher — in 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