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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. club — for golf
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for dancing
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bat — the animal
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. season — of the year
  12. kid — child
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. deal — to handle
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. tube — a container
  23. lie — to recline
  24. season — in sport

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