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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: bat · cold · stock · club · mug · bank · perch · chair

  1. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. cold — an illness
  3. perch — the fish
  4. mug — to rob
  5. club — for dancing
  6. bank — of a river
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — for money
  10. chair — a leader
  11. bat — the animal
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. stock — shares
  14. mug — a face
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. mug — a cup
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. club — for golf
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. stock — goods
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. club — a group

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