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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 116 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. last — final
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. sharp — clever
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. spring — of water
  15. game — wild animals
  16. spring — a coil
  17. chair — a leader
  18. stock — goods
  19. game — a match
  20. spring — the season
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. last — to go on
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. last — finally

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