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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. stock — goods
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — shares
  7. degree — an amount
  8. wind — moving air
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. chair — a leader
  11. ground — the earth
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. ground — crushed
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — from a university
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. ground — a position

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