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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: wind · chip · bat · stem · kick · club · lie · cold

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for dancing
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. kick — in football
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — moving air
  12. club — for golf
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. chip — to eat
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — to come from
  19. chip — for betting
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — the animal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. lie — to recline

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