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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. hand — help
  4. content — happy
  5. scale — size or range
  6. content — the amount
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hand — in cards
  13. root — of a word
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. root — the cause
  20. root — of a plant
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. club — a group
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. scale — in music

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