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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. club — for dancing
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. club — a group
  8. track — a song
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. spring — a coil
  12. track — a path
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. bat — the animal
  16. track — to keep track
  17. spring — the season
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. spring — of water
  23. branch — a division
  24. bat — for baseball

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