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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. rock — a stone
  6. chest — a box
  7. court — of a king
  8. chest — of your body
  9. net — in sport
  10. chest — of your body
  11. court — of law
  12. rock — music
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. court — for sport
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — for catching
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. branch — a division

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