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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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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: season · stick · dip · cold · stock · chip · chair · snap

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. stock — shares
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cold — not warm
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chip — for betting
  15. season — in sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. season — of the year
  23. stock — goods
  24. chip — to eat

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