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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. race — a contest
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stock — shares
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. fork — in a road
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. face — to point toward
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. face — part of the head
  15. face — to confront
  16. stem — to come from
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. stock — goods

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