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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. chair — a leader
  4. tear — to rip
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. pop — to visit
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. firm — a company
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — from crying
  13. stock — shares
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. firm — decided
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stock — goods
  18. snap — to click
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pop — music
  21. pop — soda
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cold — an illness

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