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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 120 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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. prune — to trim
  3. club — a group
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. game — wild animals
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. game — a match
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. club — for golf
  16. wax — to grow
  17. bat — the animal
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. fork — in a road
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. club — for dancing

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