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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. press — a publisher
  3. club — for dancing
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. press — to push
  6. club — a group
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pit — a hole
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kick — in football
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pit — in a race
  14. race — humankind
  15. press — newspapers
  16. race — a contest
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chest — a box

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