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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. ground — the earth
  3. face — part of the head
  4. march — the month
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. stock — shares
  7. ground — crushed
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. present — there
  10. stock — goods
  11. present — a gift
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. march — the month
  14. face — to point toward
  15. content — the amount
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. present — the time now
  19. content — happy
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. face — to confront
  23. march — music
  24. ground — a position

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