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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. field — for sport
  3. club — for golf
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. hand — in cards
  6. club — a group
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. mine — for digging
  10. club — for dancing
  11. wake — a trail
  12. field — farmland
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. hand — help
  16. field — a subject
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. rash — hasty
  24. wake — before a funeral

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