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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. chair — a leader
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. tear — from crying
  8. can — a tin
  9. can — a tin
  10. track — a path
  11. track — to keep track
  12. tear — to rip
  13. can — to be able to
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. last — final
  16. track — a song
  17. prune — to trim
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. last — finally
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. tear — from crying
  23. last — to go on
  24. prune — the fruit

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