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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: shower · chair · sharp · file · roll · stock · content · lean

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. file — a line of people
  5. lean — to bend
  6. content — happy
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. content — the amount
  9. file — a document
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. roll — a cake
  14. stock — goods
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. file — a tool
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. roll — a list
  21. chair — a leader
  22. lean — thin
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. lean — to rest against

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