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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. club — for dancing
  6. land — to come down
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. scale — in music
  10. land — ground
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. bass — low music
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — for digging
  16. land — a country
  17. capital — money
  18. club — for golf
  19. scale — size or range
  20. stem — to come from
  21. capital — a city
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. bass — the fish
  24. hide — animal skin

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