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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. bass — the fish
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. stock — shares
  6. snap — to click
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. last — to go on
  10. row — to paddle
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. last — final
  15. row — a line
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. content — happy
  18. last — finally
  19. bass — low music
  20. stock — goods
  21. chair — a leader
  22. content — the amount
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. hide — to keep secret

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