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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. prune — to trim
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. kid — to tease
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. net — after costs
  11. bass — low music
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. kid — child
  16. bass — the fish
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. mark — a trace
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mark — a grade
  23. net — in sport
  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