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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 116 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: club · ball · season · staff · scale · chair · plane · clip

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. scale — in music
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. clip — for paper
  6. club — for dancing
  7. clip — to cut
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. chair — a leader
  12. staff — a stick
  13. ball — a dance
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. scale — size or range
  16. staff — employees
  17. season — of the year
  18. club — a group
  19. season — in sport
  20. ball — a great time
  21. staff — employees
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. plane — a tool
  24. clip — a video

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