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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: clip · club · hand · pit · stick · race · game · straw

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. game — a match
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. game — wild animals
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. hand — help
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. club — for golf
  13. pit — in a race
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. race — a contest
  17. club — a group
  18. pit — a hole
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. race — the arms race
  22. race — humankind
  23. clip — a video
  24. hand — in cards

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