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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 120 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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. court — of law
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. chair — a leader
  15. fork — in a road
  16. row — to paddle
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. court — for sport
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. court — of a king
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. row — a line
  24. row — a quarrel

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