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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. club — for golf
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bass — low music
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bass — the fish
  14. club — for dancing
  15. band — a music group
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. band — a ring
  18. spring — the season
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. chair — a leader
  23. squash — the sport
  24. stock — shares

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