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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · file · stem · bat · bark · rest · pitcher · straw

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bat — the animal
  4. rest — a break
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bark — to shout
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. court — of law
  13. file — a tool
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. stem — to come from
  18. court — of a king
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rest — what's left

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