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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. club — for golf
  3. ground — the earth
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. key — for a lock
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. file — a document
  10. clip — for paper
  11. key — the most important part
  12. club — for dancing
  13. mug — a cup
  14. key — in music
  15. ground — crushed
  16. club — a group
  17. capital — money
  18. ground — a position
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mug — to rob
  21. file — a tool
  22. capital — a city
  23. plane — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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