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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 120 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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. chip — to eat
  3. spell — letters
  4. club — for dancing
  5. court — of law
  6. field — farmland
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. spell — a short time
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. club — for golf
  12. court — of a king
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. cap — a hat
  15. chip — for betting
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. cap — of ice
  18. court — for sport
  19. spell — magic
  20. squash — to crush
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cap — a lid
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — the sport

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