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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. club — for dancing
  4. race — humankind
  5. wound — an injury
  6. race — a contest
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. club — a group
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. race — the arms race
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. wound — an injury
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a great time
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. coach — a trainer

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