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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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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: cap · bat · foot · bear · hand · club · clip · wave

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for dancing
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. hand — help
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. foot — a measure
  7. clip — to cut
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cap — of ice
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cap — a lid
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cap — a hat
  20. clip — for paper
  21. club — for golf
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. clip — a video

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