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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 · cell · coach · fall · ground · fan · foot · kid

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cell — a phone
  3. club — for dancing
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. ground — the earth
  7. club — for golf
  8. ground — a position
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. ground — crushed
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. kid — child
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. cell — in biology
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. foot — a measure
  22. kid — to tease
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. fall — to drop

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