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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wound — an injury
  4. bulb — for light
  5. bulb — for light
  6. craft — a skill
  7. wound — an injury
  8. game — a match
  9. club — a group
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. club — for dancing
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. craft — boats
  17. snap — to click
  18. game — wild animals
  19. date — the fruit
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. pitch — completely
  24. date — on the calendar

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