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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. kid — to tease
  3. land — a country
  4. row — a line
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. land — to come down
  7. court — of a king
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. kid — child
  10. sharp — clever
  11. court — of law
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — part of the head
  15. row — to paddle
  16. club — for dancing
  17. court — for sport
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. face — to confront
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. land — ground
  23. club — a group
  24. sharp — exactly

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