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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. face — to confront
  3. cold — an illness
  4. club — a group
  5. face — to point toward
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. swing — music
  11. last — final
  12. cold — not warm
  13. face — part of the head
  14. kick — in football
  15. swing — in golf
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. snap — to click
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. club — for dancing

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