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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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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 · cell · stock · pit · bore · bark · staff · cold

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. pit — in a race
  3. club — for golf
  4. staff — a stick
  5. bore — to drill
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. stock — shares
  9. club — a group
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. staff — employees
  14. cell — a phone
  15. club — for dancing
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. stock — goods
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. staff — employees
  24. cold — not warm

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