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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. pop — soda
  3. net — in sport
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. club — a group
  7. hand — help
  8. pop — music
  9. wake — a trail
  10. net — for catching
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pop — to visit
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. game — wild animals
  15. net — after costs
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. game — a match
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in biology
  21. lie — to recline
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. club — for dancing
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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