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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 120 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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. spell — letters
  3. clip — a video
  4. club — for golf
  5. rash — a series
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. club — a group
  9. file — a tool
  10. rash — hasty
  11. clip — to cut
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. file — a line of people
  16. spell — magic
  17. file — a document
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. clip — for paper
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. chair — a leader
  22. club — for dancing
  23. spell — a short time
  24. straw — dry grass

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