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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 116 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wind — moving air
  4. club — for dancing
  5. club — for golf
  6. hand — in cards
  7. mark — a grade
  8. wind — moving air
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. hand — help
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spring — the season
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. spring — a coil
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — in music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. spring — of water
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. mark — a trace
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. club — a group

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