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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: last · chair · pound · stock · foot · straw · content · stick

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. chair — a leader
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — finally
  6. last — final
  7. content — the amount
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. pound — a weight
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. foot — a measure
  16. content — happy
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. stock — goods
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. foot — part of the body

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