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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. game — a match
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. spell — letters
  6. pop — soda
  7. club — a group
  8. saw — the tool
  9. spell — magic
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pop — to visit
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pop — music
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. capital — money
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. capital — a city
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rash — hasty
  22. club — for golf
  23. rash — a series
  24. spell — a short time

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