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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. wound — an injury
  6. tube — the underground
  7. key — the most important part
  8. spring — a coil
  9. key — in music
  10. roll — a list
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. wound — an injury
  13. spring — of water
  14. roll — a cake
  15. tube — a container
  16. spring — the season
  17. key — for a lock
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. date — the fruit
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. club — a group
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — for dancing
  24. straw — a straw man

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