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

Word bank: club · mine · chair · trunk · season · pound

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — a leader
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. club — for dancing
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. club — a group
  9. season — in sport
  10. pound — a weight
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. season — of the year
  16. club — for golf
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. season — to add flavour

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