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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: bowl · chair · stock · firm · wind · last

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. stock — shares
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. chair — a leader
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. last — to go on
  7. firm — steady
  8. firm — decided
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. firm — a company
  11. stock — goods
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. wind — moving air
  14. last — final
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. last — finally

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