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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. press — to push
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — shares
  6. ground — a position
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. lean — to bend
  10. press — a publisher
  11. press — newspapers
  12. chair — a leader
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ground — crushed
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. saw — the tool
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. ground — the earth
  23. dip — to sink
  24. saw — the tool

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