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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. season — of the year
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. cell — in biology
  7. field — for sport
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. field — farmland
  10. club — for golf
  11. hand — in cards
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. wound — an injury
  15. field — a subject
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. club — for dancing
  18. season — in sport
  19. hand — help
  20. wound — an injury
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cell — a phone
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — in a prison

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