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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. drill — the tool
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — a face
  5. drill — army training
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. clip — for paper
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. rash — a series
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. drill — a practice
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. mug — to rob
  17. club — a group
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. club — for dancing
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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