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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: prune · straw · court · tube · pitcher · track · mark · fan

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. track — a path
  3. court — of a king
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. tube — the underground
  7. mark — a trace
  8. tube — a container
  9. court — for sport
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. track — a song
  13. prune — to trim
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. track — to keep track
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. court — of law
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. mark — a grade
  23. prune — the fruit
  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