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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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. stock — shares
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. chair — a leader
  7. sharp — clever
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. mate — a partner
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mark — a grade
  13. stock — goods
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mark — a trace
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. stem — to come from
  23. mate — a friend
  24. mate — to breed

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