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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. snap — to click
  3. club — for golf
  4. cap — a hat
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — of ice
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cap — a lid
  13. squash — to crush
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. tear — to rip
  16. pound — a weight
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. squash — the sport
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. club — a group
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — to eat

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