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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. spring — a coil
  7. clip — a video
  8. cue — for pool
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spring — of water
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mine — for digging
  14. clip — for paper
  15. cue — a hint
  16. cue — a signal
  17. spring — the season
  18. clip — to cut
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. press — a publisher
  21. press — to push
  22. club — a group
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. club — for golf

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