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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. root — of a plant
  6. file — a document
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. root — the cause
  10. roll — a cake
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. perch — the fish
  15. file — a tool
  16. club — a group
  17. root — of a word
  18. ball — a great time
  19. ball — a dance
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. row — a line
  23. roll — a list
  24. ball — a round shape

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