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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. land — ground
  3. club — for dancing
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — a group
  7. chip — to eat
  8. land — a country
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — size or range
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. scale — in music
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chip — for betting
  21. land — to come down
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. band — a ring
  24. straw — a straw man

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