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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. rule — government
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. pop — to visit
  7. club — a group
  8. chair — a leader
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. pop — music
  11. content — the amount
  12. stock — goods
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — a law
  15. club — for dancing
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — happy
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. mine — for digging
  21. club — for golf
  22. stock — shares
  23. pop — soda
  24. mine — an explosive

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