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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. club — for golf
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. race — humankind
  8. bound — obliged
  9. press — newspapers
  10. sharp — clever
  11. hand — help
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bound — certain
  14. pitch — completely
  15. club — a group
  16. press — to push
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bound — tied together
  20. press — a publisher
  21. hand — in cards
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. race — a contest

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