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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bore — to tire
  3. wound — an injury
  4. club — a group
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. club — for dancing
  7. lie — to recline
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. lean — to bend
  14. file — a document
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fine — all right
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cold — not warm
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. file — a tool
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. lean — thin
  24. cold — the Cold War

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