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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. clip — for paper
  3. scale — size or range
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. land — to come down
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. scale — in music
  8. field — a subject
  9. clip — to cut
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. club — for golf
  15. clip — a video
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. land — ground
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. club — for dancing
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. land — a country
  24. scale — for weighing

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