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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 120 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: game · hand · club · fall · stock · bound · prune · ball

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bound — tied together
  4. fall — the season
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. stock — goods
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. ball — a great time
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bound — obliged
  14. club — for golf
  15. stock — shares
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fall — to drop
  20. ball — a dance
  21. hand — help
  22. club — a group
  23. bound — certain
  24. game — a match

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