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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. key — for a lock
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — to get on
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. bark — to shout
  11. club — for golf
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. key — in music
  15. deal — to handle
  16. band — a ring
  17. cold — not warm
  18. board — a committee
  19. club — for dancing
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — the most important part
  24. deal — a big deal

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