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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 116 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — for golf
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. root — the cause
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cold — an illness
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. root — of a plant
  12. root — of a word
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. club — a group
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War

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