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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. rash — a series
  4. bat — the animal
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. chest — a box
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. chest — of your body
  11. game — wild animals
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. prune — to trim
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. game — a match
  24. rash — hasty

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