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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. race — a contest
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. hand — in cards
  14. race — the arms race
  15. field — for sport
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. hand — help
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. board — a committee
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. race — humankind
  23. board — to get on
  24. prune — to trim

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