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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · fine · last · chair · stock · kid

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cell — in biology
  5. chair — a leader
  6. last — final
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. fine — high quality
  10. kid — child
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — a phone
  13. stock — goods
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. last — to go on
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. fine — all right
  18. stock — shares

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