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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: squash · calf · club · cabinet · stock · scale · mine · clip

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. stock — goods
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. club — for dancing
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. clip — a video
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. scale — in music
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. club — a group
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. squash — to crush
  17. club — for golf
  18. mine — for digging
  19. scale — size or range
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. calf — a young animal

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