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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. cell — a phone
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — wild animals
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. game — a match
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. ground — the earth
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. kick — in football
  15. club — for golf
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cell — in biology
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. club — a group
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. ground — a position
  24. hide — animal skin

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