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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. wound — an injury
  6. club — a group
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. game — wild animals
  9. craft — a skill
  10. current — electric
  11. current — of water
  12. clip — for paper
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. current — happening now
  15. club — for dancing
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. wound — an injury
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. clip — a video
  21. craft — boats
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a city
  24. clip — to cut

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