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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rash — hasty
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. game — a match
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. rash — a series
  7. fall — the season
  8. roll — a cake
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. lie — to recline
  11. game — wild animals
  12. spring — the season
  13. club — for dancing
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. club — a group
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fall — to drop
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — from a university
  22. spring — of water
  23. degree — temperature
  24. roll — a list

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