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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. swing — to play on
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. date — the fruit
  6. kick — in football
  7. ball — a great time
  8. race — the arms race
  9. ball — a dance
  10. club — a group
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. club — for dancing
  14. file — a document
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. club — for golf
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — a contest
  21. swing — in golf
  22. file — a tool
  23. swing — music
  24. date — on the calendar

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