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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — happy
  4. content — the amount
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. root — of a word
  7. rest — what's left
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. club — a group
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — hasty
  15. club — for dancing
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rest — a break
  19. root — the cause
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — an illness
  23. root — of a plant
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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