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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  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. stock — shares
  2. chair — a leader
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. hand — help
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. hand — in cards
  14. stock — goods
  15. game — a match
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. game — wild animals
  21. kid — to tease
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. toast — bread
  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