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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: bulb · club · stand · stock · shower · cold · mark · clip

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — a trace
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bulb — for light
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. club — for dancing
  8. stock — shares
  9. stand — to bear
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. clip — a video
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — not warm
  15. club — a group
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. shower — to wash
  21. bulb — for light
  22. stock — goods
  23. shower — rain
  24. clip — to cut

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