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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 120 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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 — for dancing
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wound — an injury
  6. field — a subject
  7. club — a group
  8. fall — the season
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wound — an injury
  11. dip — to sink
  12. prune — to trim
  13. field — for sport
  14. capital — money
  15. field — farmland
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — in music
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fall — to drop
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — a city
  23. prune — the fruit
  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