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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: chest · clip · current · row · root · mark · club · hand

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — a group
  4. clip — to cut
  5. club — for dancing
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. hand — help
  8. row — to paddle
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — for paper
  11. mark — a trace
  12. root — the cause
  13. chest — a box
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. hand — in cards
  16. row — a line
  17. current — happening now
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mark — a grade
  20. root — of a plant
  21. current — electric
  22. root — of a word
  23. clip — a video
  24. current — of water

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