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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
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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: ball · fine · chair · stock · scale · clip · spring · land

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. spring — a coil
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. land — a country
  5. ball — a great time
  6. stock — shares
  7. fine — high quality
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. stock — goods
  12. clip — for paper
  13. chair — a leader
  14. land — to come down
  15. clip — a video
  16. scale — size or range
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. clip — to cut
  19. land — ground
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. spring — of water
  22. fine — all right
  23. spring — the season
  24. scale — in music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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