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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. chair — a leader
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. stock — goods
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. rest — what's left
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. rest — a break
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. stock — shares
  15. field — for sport
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. field — farmland
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. date — the fruit
  23. kid — child
  24. field — a subject

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