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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. race — a contest
  5. file — a line of people
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. bat — the animal
  8. file — a tool
  9. race — humankind
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. race — the arms race
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. kid — child
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. club — for dancing
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. file — a document
  21. club — a group
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. spring — a coil

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