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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wake · fan · ball · straw · prune · bat · club · kid

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wake — a trail
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bat — the animal
  10. kid — to tease
  11. prune — to trim
  12. club — a group
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. ball — a dance
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. ball — a great time
  18. kid — child
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. club — for golf
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. club — for dancing
  24. bat — in an idiom

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