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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. rash — a series
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cold — an illness
  6. current — happening now
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chair — a leader
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. spell — magic
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. pit — in a race
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. spell — letters
  18. current — of water
  19. rash — hasty
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. current — electric
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. spell — a short time
  24. chair — to sit on

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