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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: stock · perch · club · chip · land · scale · season · chest

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. land — a country
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. club — for golf
  8. chip — to eat
  9. club — a group
  10. land — to come down
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. club — for dancing
  13. chip — for betting
  14. season — in sport
  15. scale — size or range
  16. season — of the year
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. land — ground
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. stock — shares
  22. scale — in music
  23. perch — the fish
  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