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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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Word bank
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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: stock · plane · bay · cell · chair · straw

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. stock — shares
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. plane — a tool
  9. chair — a leader
  10. cell — a phone
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. stock — goods
  18. cell — in biology

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