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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 120 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. club — for dancing
  2. hand — help
  3. key — the most important part
  4. sharp — clever
  5. club — a group
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. file — a document
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cell — a phone
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. clip — to cut
  19. club — for golf
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. key — in music
  22. key — for a lock
  23. hand — in cards
  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