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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. cell — in biology
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. net — after costs
  8. cell — a phone
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. date — the fruit
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fall — the season
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. bound — tied together
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. net — for catching
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. net — in sport
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bound — certain
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. trunk — of a tree

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