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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. chair — a leader
  3. board — a committee
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. swing — to play on
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. swing — music
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pop — music
  12. mug — a face
  13. board — to get on
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mug — to rob
  16. stock — goods
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pop — soda
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pop — to visit
  22. mug — a cup
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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