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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — thin
  4. net — in sport
  5. prune — to trim
  6. track — a path
  7. race — humankind
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. scale — in music
  10. race — a contest
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. race — the arms race
  14. lean — to bend
  15. stock — shares
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. prune — to trim
  18. track — to keep track
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. scale — size or range
  21. track — a song
  22. net — after costs
  23. net — for catching
  24. stock — goods

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