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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. club — a group
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mug — a cup
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mug — to rob
  12. cell — a phone
  13. club — for dancing
  14. spring — the season
  15. stock — goods
  16. chair — a leader
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spring — a coil
  19. club — for golf
  20. mug — a face
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. spring — of water

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