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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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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: bark · chair · perch · pit · chest · last · fall · stock

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. stock — shares
  4. last — final
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pit — in a race
  9. pit — a hole
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. fall — to drop
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. chest — a box
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. last — finally
  20. perch — the fish
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. bark — to shout
  23. chair — a leader
  24. perch — for a bird

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