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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. track — to keep track
  6. root — of a word
  7. root — of a plant
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chair — a leader
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — letters
  17. track — a path
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. track — a song
  23. rash — a series
  24. root — the cause

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