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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. roll — a cake
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wind — moving air
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cell — in biology
  9. club — for golf
  10. spell — magic
  11. cell — a phone
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. spell — letters
  14. roll — a list
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. club — a group
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spell — a short time
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. chest — a box
  24. wind — moving air

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