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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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. rush — to hurry
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. rush — hurry
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. shower — to wash
  8. shower — rain
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. stock — goods
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. content — happy
  14. chair — a leader
  15. fork — in a road
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. content — the amount
  23. stock — shares
  24. arm — part of the body

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