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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. chest — of your body
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. net — in sport
  6. content — happy
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. ground — a position
  10. content — the amount
  11. rule — a law
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. chest — a box
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. rule — government
  18. ground — crushed
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chair — a leader
  22. stock — shares
  23. chest — of your body
  24. stock — goods

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