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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. rest — what's left
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. club — for dancing
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. cold — not warm
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. kick — in football
  11. cold — an illness
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. roll — a list
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. roll — a cake
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. degree — from a university
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. club — a group
  22. degree — an amount
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. arm — part of the body

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