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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. club — for golf
  3. court — for sport
  4. file — a tool
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. degree — from a university
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. file — a line of people
  9. mug — a face
  10. degree — an amount
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. club — a group
  14. wake — a trail
  15. file — a document
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. court — of a king
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. mug — a cup
  20. degree — temperature
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. club — for dancing
  24. court — of law

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