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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. mark — a grade
  3. file — a tool
  4. chest — of your body
  5. file — a line of people
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stock — goods
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. stock — shares
  14. degree — from a university
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wound — an injury
  17. snap — to click
  18. mark — a trace
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. chest — a box
  21. chair — a leader
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wound — an injury
  24. file — a document

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