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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — a break
  6. object — to protest
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. cap — a lid
  13. club — for dancing
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cap — of ice
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — a thing
  21. chair — a leader
  22. rest — what's left
  23. club — a group
  24. cold — an illness

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