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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. club — for golf
  3. capital — money
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. roll — a list
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. capital — a city
  9. club — a group
  10. club — for dancing
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. roll — a cake
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. hand — help
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — to tease
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. shower — to wash
  22. kid — child
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. roll — on a roll

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