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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: drill · club · chip · fan · cold · stem · charge · pound

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cold — an illness
  4. drill — the tool
  5. stem — to come from
  6. charge — electricity
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. club — for golf
  9. club — for dancing
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — not warm
  13. chip — for betting
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. charge — a price
  18. chip — to eat
  19. pound — a weight
  20. club — a group
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. charge — in control

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