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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. club — for golf
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. club — a group
  6. cap — a hat
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mine — for digging
  9. cap — a lid
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. net — for catching
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. hand — help
  15. plane — a tool
  16. club — for dancing
  17. net — after costs
  18. cap — of ice
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. hand — in cards
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. net — in sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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