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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: board · hand · cold · charge · club · prune · tube · mark

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for golf
  3. tube — the underground
  4. prune — to trim
  5. board — a committee
  6. cold — an illness
  7. prune — to trim
  8. board — to get on
  9. club — for dancing
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. mark — a grade
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. hand — in cards
  16. charge — in control
  17. charge — electricity
  18. hand — help
  19. mark — a trace
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. charge — a price
  23. cold — not warm
  24. tube — a container

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