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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · leaves · clip · row · cell · cap

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. row — a line
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. club — a group
  6. row — to paddle
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cap — a hat
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cap — a lid
  14. cap — of ice
  15. cell — a phone
  16. club — for golf
  17. cell — in biology
  18. leaves — lets stay

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