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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — a group
  3. content — happy
  4. kid — to tease
  5. shower — rain
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. content — the amount
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. shower — to wash
  11. club — for dancing
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. kid — child
  24. content — videos and posts

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