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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spell · chair · fall · band · season · stock · hide · cold

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. spell — letters
  3. stock — shares
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. season — of the year
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. spell — a short time
  10. season — in sport
  11. fall — the season
  12. band — a music group
  13. stock — goods
  14. cold — an illness
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. spell — magic
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. chair — a leader
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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