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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: stand · bear · wound · club · content · staff · cold · kid

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. club — for golf
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. club — for dancing
  11. bear — the animal
  12. staff — a stick
  13. cold — not warm
  14. content — the amount
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. bear — the animal
  17. staff — employees
  18. content — happy
  19. kid — child
  20. staff — employees
  21. cold — an illness
  22. club — a group
  23. stand — to bear
  24. kid — to tease

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