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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rest — a break
  4. club — for golf
  5. field — for sport
  6. hand — help
  7. lean — thin
  8. club — for dancing
  9. rest — what's left
  10. field — farmland
  11. date — the fruit
  12. rest — what's left
  13. field — a subject
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. lean — to bend
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. saw — the tool
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. club — a group
  24. saw — the tool

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