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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: spring · bark · straw · cold · net · mouse · chip · club

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. chip — for betting
  4. net — after costs
  5. club — for dancing
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. club — a group
  8. net — in sport
  9. club — for golf
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. spring — the season
  15. chip — to eat
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. spring — of water
  19. bark — to shout
  20. spring — a coil
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. net — for catching
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chip — in a computer

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