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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. club — a group
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cell — a phone
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. rest — a break
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. drill — army training
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. sharp — clever
  17. rest — what's left
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. bat — the animal
  20. rest — what's left
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. cell — in biology
  23. club — for golf
  24. drill — the tool

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