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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: mug · club · fork · mine · wound · chair · net · cold

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. mug — a cup
  5. net — after costs
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. net — for catching
  10. mug — to rob
  11. mine — for digging
  12. club — for golf
  13. chair — a leader
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. wound — an injury
  18. net — in sport
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. mug — a face
  21. club — for dancing
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. club — a group

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