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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. chair — a leader
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. can — a tin
  6. court — of law
  7. can — a tin
  8. rock — a stone
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — to paddle
  11. field — a subject
  12. pound — a weight
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — goods
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. stock — shares
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. row — a line
  20. court — for sport
  21. field — for sport
  22. can — to be able to
  23. rock — music
  24. court — of a king

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