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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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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: bat · staff · hide · ground · mate · court · straw · pop

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. pop — music
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. staff — employees
  5. mate — a friend
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. ground — a position
  8. staff — a stick
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. mate — a partner
  11. pop — to visit
  12. court — for sport
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mate — to breed
  17. pop — soda
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — crushed
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. court — of a king
  22. staff — employees
  23. court — of law
  24. bat — the animal

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