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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. rule — a law
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. capital — money
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. rule — government
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. race — humankind
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — a group
  13. kid — to tease
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. race — a contest
  18. march — the month
  19. capital — a city
  20. kid — child
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. race — the arms race
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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