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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: fall · bulb · bat · kid · court · straw · patient · scale

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — for light
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fall — to drop
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. kid — to tease
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. scale — in music
  12. court — for sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. scale — size or range
  15. court — of law
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. bat — the animal
  18. court — of a king
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. fall — the season
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. kid — child

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