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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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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: stock · chair · land · bay · march · file · net · firm

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. net — in sport
  3. chair — a leader
  4. firm — steady
  5. march — the month
  6. firm — a company
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. file — a tool
  10. stock — shares
  11. file — a document
  12. net — for catching
  13. stock — goods
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. march — the month
  17. firm — decided
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. net — after costs
  20. land — a country
  21. march — music
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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