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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. degree — an amount
  3. club — for dancing
  4. swing — to play on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. land — to come down
  7. club — for golf
  8. stock — shares
  9. race — the arms race
  10. swing — music
  11. land — a country
  12. swing — in golf
  13. land — ground
  14. race — a contest
  15. degree — temperature
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bank — of a river
  18. race — humankind
  19. degree — from a university
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — for 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