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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cold — an illness
  3. club — for dancing
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bear — the animal
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bear — the animal
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. ground — a position
  12. club — for golf
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. game — a match
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cell — in biology
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. net — in sport
  22. game — wild animals
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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