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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. club — for dancing
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. march — the month
  6. chest — of your body
  7. club — a group
  8. capital — money
  9. pass — a permit
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. swing — in golf
  13. ball — a great time
  14. club — for golf
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. chest — a box
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. swing — to play on
  21. march — music
  22. ball — a dance
  23. march — the month
  24. swing — music

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