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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — to paddle
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. row — a line
  8. club — for dancing
  9. prune — to trim
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. prune — to trim
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. chest — a box
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cue — a hint
  18. spring — the season
  19. cue — for pool
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. chest — of your body
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spring — of water
  24. club — for golf

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