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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. file — a line of people
  3. club — for golf
  4. bass — low music
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — a trail
  7. charge — electricity
  8. charge — in control
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bass — the fish
  17. club — a group
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. file — a document
  20. charge — a price
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. rash — a series

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