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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 kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. pit — a hole
  4. club — for dancing
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — not warm
  8. club — a group
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. roll — a cake
  12. clip — for paper
  13. bear — the animal
  14. pit — in a race
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. ball — a dance
  21. bear — the animal
  22. ball — a great time
  23. roll — a list
  24. fan — a supporter

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