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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: staff · club · chair · vault · scale · row · cold · rush

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. club — for dancing
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. club — a group
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rush — hurry
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. row — to paddle
  12. staff — employees
  13. staff — employees
  14. cold — an illness
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. chair — a leader
  17. scale — in music
  18. row — a line
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. vault — a safe
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. scale — size or range
  24. staff — a stick

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