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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. pass — a permit
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bass — low music
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. field — farmland
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. land — ground
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. land — to come down
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. field — a subject
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. prune — to trim
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. field — for sport
  21. land — a country
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. bass — the fish
  24. hand — help

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