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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held 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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pitch — completely
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. wind — moving air
  7. net — for catching
  8. fall — the season
  9. stock — goods
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. net — after costs
  12. fall — to drop
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. stock — shares
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. chair — a leader
  21. net — in sport
  22. rock — a stone
  23. perch — the fish
  24. rock — music

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