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

Word bank: club · cell · kid · tear · lie · ground

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cell — a phone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. cell — in biology
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — to tease
  8. club — a group
  9. kid — child
  10. ground — crushed
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. ground — a position
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. club — for golf
  16. lie — to recline
  17. tear — from crying
  18. lie — an untruth

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