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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. club — a group
  3. spring — of water
  4. club — for dancing
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. bass — the fish
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bass — low music
  10. field — a subject
  11. spring — the season
  12. sharp — clever
  13. game — a match
  14. field — farmland
  15. club — for golf
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. spring — a coil
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. field — for sport
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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