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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. lie — to recline
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. face — part of the head
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. club — a group
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. club — for dancing
  11. game — wild animals
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. capital — a city
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. face — to point toward
  16. spell — a short time
  17. game — a match
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — magic
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. face — to confront
  23. capital — money
  24. dip — to sink

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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