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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 120 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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. club — for dancing
  5. kick — in football
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. capital — money
  9. cold — an illness
  10. suit — to fit
  11. suit — clothes
  12. last — finally
  13. last — to go on
  14. club — a group
  15. suit — in cards
  16. cold — not warm
  17. last — final
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. capital — a city
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. plane — a tool
  23. shower — rain
  24. plane — an aircraft

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