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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. stock — shares
  4. hand — in cards
  5. chair — a leader
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. dip — to sink
  8. hand — help
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. degree — an amount
  12. degree — temperature
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — newspapers
  19. press — to push
  20. degree — from a university
  21. stock — goods
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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