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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. stock — shares
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. wind — moving air
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. scale — in music
  10. land — ground
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — a leader
  15. stock — goods
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. rash — a series
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. scale — size or range
  20. rash — hasty
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. dip — to sink
  24. land — a country

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