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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. craft — a skill
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. game — wild animals
  6. craft — boats
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. club — a group
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. swing — in golf
  14. mark — a trace
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. game — a match
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. swing — music
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mark — a grade
  23. club — for dancing
  24. swing — to play on

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