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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. club — for golf
  3. fine — all right
  4. root — of a word
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fine — high quality
  11. present — the time now
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. game — a match
  17. present — a gift
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to click
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. club — a group
  22. present — there
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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