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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. club — for golf
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. club — for dancing
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. march — music
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. march — the month
  17. root — of a plant
  18. club — a group
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — for digging
  21. root — the cause
  22. root — of a word
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. bat — in an idiom

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