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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — for dancing
  4. cell — a phone
  5. stock — goods
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. swing — to play on
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. swing — music
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cell — in biology
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stock — shares
  21. swing — in golf
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. club — a group
  24. fork — in a road

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