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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. lean — thin
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — shares
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. lean — to bend
  15. cold — an illness
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. chair — a leader
  21. net — in sport
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. stock — goods
  24. ground — the earth

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