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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 116 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: bowl · saw · perch · spell · content · stock · chair · race

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. race — the arms race
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spell — letters
  5. content — happy
  6. saw — the tool
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. spell — a short time
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. spell — magic
  11. race — a contest
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. perch — the fish
  15. stock — goods
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. stock — shares
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. content — the amount
  23. race — humankind
  24. bowl — a dish

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