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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. stock — goods
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. court — for sport
  6. cap — of ice
  7. stock — shares
  8. chair — a leader
  9. court — of law
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. cap — a lid
  13. court — of a king
  14. lean — thin
  15. land — a country
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. cap — a hat
  18. hand — help
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — ground
  21. rash — hasty
  22. lean — to bend
  23. rash — a series
  24. hand — in cards

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