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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. bass — the fish
  5. kid — to tease
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. saw — the tool
  8. stem — to come from
  9. club — a group
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. club — for golf
  18. kid — child

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