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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. club — for dancing
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. file — a tool
  7. scale — size or range
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bark — to shout
  11. chip — for betting
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. ball — a dance
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. stem — to come from
  17. file — a line of people
  18. kick — in football
  19. ball — a great time
  20. chip — to eat
  21. club — a group
  22. scale — in music
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. file — a document

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