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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: cell · club · stock · arm · mug · mate · cold · chest

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cell — in biology
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. mug — a face
  6. club — a group
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. mug — to rob
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stock — shares
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mug — a cup
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. cold — not warm
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. cell — a phone
  19. mate — a partner
  20. mate — to breed
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stock — goods

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