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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. club — for golf
  3. tube — a container
  4. swing — in golf
  5. club — a group
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. clip — to cut
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. last — to go on
  10. firm — decided
  11. last — final
  12. clip — for paper
  13. firm — a company
  14. last — finally
  15. mine — for digging
  16. swing — music
  17. tube — the underground
  18. stem — to come from
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. firm — steady
  21. club — for dancing
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. clip — a video

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