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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. fall — to drop
  4. staff — a stick
  5. fall — the season
  6. drill — army training
  7. field — for sport
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. club — for golf
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. field — a subject
  12. staff — employees
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. fall — to drop
  15. scale — in music
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. kid — to tease
  19. field — farmland
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. staff — employees
  22. scale — size or range
  23. club — a group
  24. kid — child

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