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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. plane — a tool
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. club — for golf
  6. chest — of your body
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. land — ground
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. march — music
  19. club — for dancing
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. club — a group
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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