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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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Word bank
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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: clip · kid · scale · club · cell · tube · stock · calf

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. scale — size or range
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. scale — in music
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. club — a group
  8. kid — to tease
  9. club — for dancing
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. tube — the underground
  14. cell — in biology
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. kid — child
  17. stock — goods
  18. clip — a video
  19. stock — shares
  20. club — for golf
  21. tube — a container
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. cell — a phone
  24. calf — of the leg

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