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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. club — for dancing
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. wake — a trail
  5. clip — for paper
  6. club — for golf
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. suit — in cards
  10. clip — a video
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. suit — to fit
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. mine — for digging
  15. court — of law
  16. suit — clothes
  17. court — of a king
  18. rash — hasty
  19. club — a group
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. rash — a series
  22. clip — to cut
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. court — for sport

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