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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — newspapers
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. club — for dancing
  8. track — a song
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. track — a path
  12. mine — for digging
  13. cold — an illness
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. club — a group
  16. press — to push
  17. dip — to sink
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. cold — not warm
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. track — to keep track

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