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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. cell — in biology
  3. club — a group
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. club — for dancing
  7. cell — a phone
  8. net — in sport
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. key — in music
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. key — the most important part
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — clever
  16. spell — letters
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. spell — magic
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — after costs
  23. spell — a short time
  24. key — for a lock

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