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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. stock — shares
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. drill — the tool
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. kid — to tease
  10. drill — a practice
  11. chair — a leader
  12. row — a line
  13. game — wild animals
  14. rush — hurry
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. kid — child
  17. row — to paddle
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. drill — army training
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — goods
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. rush — to hurry

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