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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. staff — employees
  3. drill — the tool
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. last — finally
  7. last — final
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. club — for dancing
  10. drill — a practice
  11. club — for golf
  12. drill — army training
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. staff — employees
  21. last — to go on
  22. sharp — clever
  23. staff — a stick
  24. wave — of the sea

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