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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. rash — a series
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pit — in a race
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bark — to shout
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. club — for dancing
  15. pit — a hole
  16. wind — moving air
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. clip — a video
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. rash — hasty

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