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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: bulb · chair · club · lie · pop · vault · branch · cold

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. pop — soda
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cold — not warm
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. lie — to recline
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. club — a group
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. club — for golf
  11. bulb — for light
  12. vault — a safe
  13. cold — an illness
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. bulb — for light
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. pop — music
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. pop — to visit
  24. club — for dancing

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