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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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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 · rush · swing · pass · cold · chair · clip · bank

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. clip — a video
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. club — a group
  8. bank — for money
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — in golf
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. club — for dancing
  14. pass — a permit
  15. bank — for money
  16. swing — music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bank — of a river
  21. rush — hurry
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. chair — a leader

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