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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. drill — a practice
  4. last — final
  5. court — of a king
  6. bulb — for light
  7. spell — a short time
  8. drill — army training
  9. court — for sport
  10. drill — the tool
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. prune — to trim
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — magic
  15. sharp — clever
  16. last — finally
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. bulb — for light
  19. court — of law
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. last — to go on

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