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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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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: vault · fork · hand · swing · club · squash · chair · stock

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. chair — a leader
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. vault — a safe
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. fork — in a road
  8. squash — to crush
  9. club — for golf
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — to play on
  15. stock — goods
  16. hand — help
  17. squash — the sport
  18. swing — music
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. hand — in cards
  22. club — a group
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. fork — to eat with

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