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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. fall — to drop
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. prune — to trim
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. dip — to sink
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. perch — the fish
  14. stock — goods
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bat — the animal
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. cold — not warm
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. club — a group
  24. club — for dancing

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