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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 116 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: bat · chair · wave · bay · stock · cell

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. chair — a leader
  4. cell — in biology
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. cell — a phone

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