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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bulb — for light
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hand — help
  7. game — wild animals
  8. club — for golf
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. bulb — for light
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. club — a group
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. mine — for digging
  18. branch — a division
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — a match
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — belonging to me

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