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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. sharp — clever
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. chair — a leader
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. fork — in a road
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. kid — child
  16. row — a line
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. kid — to tease
  23. stock — shares
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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