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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. prune — to trim
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. kid — to tease
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. file — a line of people
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. file — a tool
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. file — a document
  21. kid — child
  22. rush — hurry
  23. field — a subject
  24. bat — the animal

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