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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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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. firm — a company
  4. present — a gift
  5. firm — decided
  6. drill — the tool
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. content — happy
  9. present — the time now
  10. content — the amount
  11. swing — to play on
  12. present — there
  13. firm — steady
  14. drill — a practice
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chair — a leader
  20. drill — army training
  21. stock — goods
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. stock — shares

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