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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fall — the season
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. stock — shares
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stock — goods
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fork — in a road
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chair — a leader
  19. mark — a trace
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chair — a professorship

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