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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spring — a coil
  5. band — a ring
  6. deal — to handle
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. tear — to rip
  9. root — of a word
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. tear — from crying
  12. root — the cause
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. band — a music group
  16. club — for golf
  17. clip — a video
  18. spring — the season
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. root — of a plant
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. spring — of water
  24. tear — from crying

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