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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 116 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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — the sport
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. ground — the earth
  6. clip — for paper
  7. club — a group
  8. prune — to trim
  9. stock — shares
  10. club — for dancing
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. chair — a leader
  14. ground — a position
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. clip — to cut
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. clip — a video
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. stock — goods
  21. ground — crushed
  22. squash — to crush
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. prune — to trim

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