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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. staff — employees
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. snap — to click
  5. club — a group
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. club — for dancing
  9. mug — a cup
  10. wound — an injury
  11. field — a subject
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. field — farmland
  15. mug — a face
  16. field — for sport
  17. staff — a stick
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. branch — a division
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. staff — employees
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. mug — to rob

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