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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 · last · pound · toast · spring · tear · jam · wake

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. last — to go on
  5. club — for dancing
  6. spring — the season
  7. tear — from crying
  8. spring — of water
  9. tear — from crying
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. toast — bread
  12. last — finally
  13. spring — a coil
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. pound — a weight
  16. club — a group
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. tear — to rip
  20. last — final
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. wake — a trail

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