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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fine — all right
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. club — a group
  9. game — a match
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. fine — high quality
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. perch — the fish
  18. club — for golf
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bass — the fish
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bass — low music
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. game — wild animals

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