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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 116 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. club — a group
  4. club — for golf
  5. rash — a series
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. clip — a video
  11. rash — hasty
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. sharp — clever
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a great time
  17. clip — for paper
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. wound — an injury
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. club — for dancing
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. sharp — with an edge

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