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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — a group
  3. capital — a city
  4. lean — thin
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. present — a gift
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. present — there
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. club — for golf
  17. lean — to bend
  18. wound — an injury
  19. drill — the tool
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. drill — a practice
  22. present — the time now
  23. drill — army training
  24. capital — 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