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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: straw · branch · fan · game · tear · bark · calf · pitcher

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. game — a match
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. game — wild animals
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. tear — to rip
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. bark — to shout
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pitcher — a jug

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