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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
468
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: foot · hide · capital · bat · chair · stock · cold · march

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. capital — money
  8. foot — a measure
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. stock — shares
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. march — the month
  16. chair — a leader
  17. capital — a city
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stock — goods
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. hide — to keep secret

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