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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 120 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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. staff — employees
  5. scale — in music
  6. land — to come down
  7. staff — employees
  8. chair — a leader
  9. staff — a stick
  10. squash — the sport
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. land — ground
  13. squash — to crush
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. content — the amount
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. content — happy
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. stock — shares
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. dip — to sink
  23. land — a country
  24. scale — size or range

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