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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — for dancing
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — humankind
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cold — an illness
  10. root — of a word
  11. lean — to bend
  12. cold — not warm
  13. present — the time now
  14. chest — a box
  15. root — the cause
  16. chest — of your body
  17. plane — a tool
  18. chest — of your body
  19. present — a gift
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. present — there
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — the arms race

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