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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. net — after costs
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. foot — a measure
  7. spell — magic
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. club — for dancing
  10. spring — of water
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. club — a group
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. spell — letters
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wake — a trail
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spring — the season
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. spell — a short time

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