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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cell — a phone
  3. club — a group
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. present — the time now
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wax — to grow
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. saw — the tool
  20. club — for golf
  21. cell — in biology
  22. present — there
  23. present — a gift
  24. capital — money

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