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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. lie — to recline
  4. hand — help
  5. bat — the animal
  6. craft — boats
  7. craft — a skill
  8. content — the amount
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. club — for dancing
  12. content — happy
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. shower — to wash
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. shower — rain
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. club — a group
  24. clip — for paper

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