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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 116 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. squash — the sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. club — for golf
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pass — a permit
  7. club — for dancing
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — to crush
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. club — a group
  12. land — a country
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. court — of a king
  15. land — ground
  16. court — for sport
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. court — of law
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — to come down

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