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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 · deal · clip · cap · jam · staff · wake · cold

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. club — for dancing
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. staff — employees
  5. deal — to handle
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. clip — a video
  12. cap — a hat
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. club — a group
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cap — a lid
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cap — of ice
  21. club — for golf
  22. staff — a stick
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. cold — an illness

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