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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: mate · pitch · jam · cell · straw · kid · club · prune

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. club — for golf
  3. cell — in biology
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. mate — to breed
  6. club — for dancing
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. kid — child
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. mate — a friend
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cell — a phone
  14. club — a group
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mate — a partner
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. prune — to trim
  21. pitch — completely
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. kid — to tease
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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