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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: cap · clip · chair · nail · stock · arm · bat · degree

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. stock — shares
  3. degree — from a university
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. stock — goods
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. cap — a lid
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. clip — a video
  14. cap — of ice
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. bat — the animal
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. degree — temperature
  19. clip — for paper
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. degree — an amount
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cap — a hat

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