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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. stock — goods
  4. content — happy
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. bore — to tire
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. stock — shares
  9. file — a line of people
  10. game — a match
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. file — a tool
  14. game — wild animals
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. content — the amount
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. file — a document
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bore — to drill
  24. pitch — completely

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