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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 124 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. court — of law
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. row — to paddle
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bear — the animal
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. court — for sport
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bark — to shout
  20. court — of a king
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. arm — part of the body

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