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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 120 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. chest — of your body
  4. club — a group
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. club — for dancing
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bark — to shout
  14. chip — to eat
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. chest — a box
  20. row — a line
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. chip — for betting

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