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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — a group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cold — not warm
  8. club — for golf
  9. hand — help
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. court — for sport
  13. band — a ring
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bulb — for light
  18. court — of a king
  19. wind — moving air
  20. band — a music group
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. court — of law
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bowl — a football final

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