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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. board — to get on
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. game — wild animals
  6. capital — a city
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. chest — a box
  10. capital — money
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. squash — the sport
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. wound — an injury
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. board — a committee
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. squash — to crush
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. wound — an injury

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