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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: bulb · club · chair · cold · roll · clip · ground · stock

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. club — for dancing
  4. roll — a list
  5. cold — an illness
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. clip — for paper
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. ground — the earth
  11. ground — crushed
  12. clip — to cut
  13. stock — shares
  14. clip — a video
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. ground — a position
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. roll — a cake
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stock — goods
  24. club — for golf

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