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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. track — a path
  3. track — a song
  4. club — for golf
  5. game — wild animals
  6. mine — for digging
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. game — a match
  11. shower — rain
  12. stock — shares
  13. season — in sport
  14. stock — goods
  15. season — of the year
  16. club — a group
  17. track — to keep track
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. wake — a trail

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