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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. prune — to trim
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. row — to paddle
  7. degree — from a university
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. prune — to trim
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. degree — an amount
  14. sharp — clever
  15. club — a group
  16. row — a line
  17. degree — temperature
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. club — for dancing
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. prune — the fruit

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