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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 116 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. race — a contest
  4. game — wild animals
  5. race — humankind
  6. court — for sport
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. chair — a leader
  11. lean — thin
  12. stock — goods
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. game — a match
  17. race — the arms race
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. stock — shares
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. court — of a king
  23. court — of law
  24. stock — a soup base

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