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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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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: content · saw · cold · straw · mouse · prune · court · race

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — the arms race
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. court — of law
  10. race — a contest
  11. cold — an illness
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. court — of a king
  15. saw — the tool
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. race — humankind
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. content — happy
  22. saw — the tool
  23. court — for sport
  24. cold — not warm

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