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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. drill — the tool
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — an injury
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — a group
  12. wound — an injury
  13. sharp — clever
  14. kid — to tease
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. kid — child
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. drill — army training
  19. club — for dancing
  20. drill — a practice
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. sharp — with an edge

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