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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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468
Word bank
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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pass — a permit
  10. march — the month
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. club — a group
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. march — the month
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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