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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 124 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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. cell — in biology
  3. club — for dancing
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. rash — hasty
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. stand — to bear
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. sharp — clever
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. club — a group
  13. date — the fruit
  14. rash — a series
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cell — a phone
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. club — for golf
  24. cell — in a prison

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