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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rest — a break
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wind — moving air
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. club — a group
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. capital — money
  11. rest — what's left
  12. plane — a tool
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. row — to paddle
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. row — a line
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. chest — of your body
  19. club — for dancing
  20. wind — moving air
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. chest — a box
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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