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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. clip — for paper
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. chair — a leader
  8. club — for golf
  9. club — for dancing
  10. race — humankind
  11. foot — a measure
  12. race — a contest
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. clip — a video
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. race — the arms race
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. kid — to tease
  20. clip — to cut
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. kid — child
  24. wake — a trail

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