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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: bat · hide · stock · spring · chair · hand · wake · march

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stock — shares
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. hand — in cards
  7. hand — help
  8. wake — a trail
  9. stock — goods
  10. spring — of water
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — a leader
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. march — music
  20. spring — the season
  21. march — the month
  22. bat — the animal
  23. march — the month
  24. spring — a coil

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