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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. pass — a permit
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. firm — decided
  13. firm — a company
  14. firm — steady
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — goods
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bore — to tire
  24. cold — an illness

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