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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. stock — shares
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. stock — goods
  6. degree — an amount
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. field — farmland
  9. court — of a king
  10. suit — to fit
  11. suit — in cards
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. suit — clothes
  17. shower — to wash
  18. degree — from a university
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. degree — temperature
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. court — of law
  24. court — for sport

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