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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. court — of a king
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. clip — a video
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. club — a group
  9. root — the cause
  10. row — a line
  11. root — of a word
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. game — wild animals
  15. court — of law
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. court — for sport
  18. club — for dancing
  19. clip — to cut
  20. root — of a plant
  21. clip — for paper
  22. club — for golf
  23. row — to paddle
  24. game — a match

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