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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 116 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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. staff — employees
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. wind — moving air
  8. club — for dancing
  9. stem — to come from
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. band — a ring
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — an illness
  14. club — a group
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. dip — to sink
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cold — not warm
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. band — a music group
  24. staff — employees

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