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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. plane — a tool
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. spring — the season
  6. clip — a video
  7. game — a match
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. club — for golf
  10. clip — for paper
  11. spring — of water
  12. shower — rain
  13. spring — a coil
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. shower — to wash
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. club — a group
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. game — wild animals
  24. clip — to cut

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