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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 120 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: root · pound · chair · cold · land · stock · deal · firm

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. firm — decided
  4. firm — a company
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. root — of a plant
  9. stock — shares
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. firm — steady
  15. land — to come down
  16. pound — a weight
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — goods
  19. deal — to handle
  20. land — a country
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. root — the cause
  23. chair — a leader
  24. root — of a word

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