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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. content — the amount
  3. wind — moving air
  4. object — to protest
  5. court — of law
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. chair — a leader
  9. stock — goods
  10. object — a thing
  11. stock — shares
  12. content — happy
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. court — for sport
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. court — of a king
  22. branch — a division
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. object — an aim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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