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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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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: racket · chair · stock · mine · sharp · pound · bay · kid

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. kid — child
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. sharp — clever
  10. stock — goods
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chair — a leader
  18. stock — shares
  19. pound — a weight
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. chair — to sit on

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