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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: chair · bear · race · tear · ball · sharp · stock · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. ball — a great time
  3. sharp — clever
  4. ball — a dance
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bear — the animal
  8. race — humankind
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. stock — shares
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. stock — goods
  19. race — a contest
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bear — the animal
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. race — the arms race

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