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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. stock — goods
  4. firm — steady
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wind — moving air
  9. firm — decided
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. stock — shares
  12. key — for a lock
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. key — in music
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. key — the most important part
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. chair — a leader
  22. firm — a company
  23. pound — a weight
  24. date — on the calendar

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