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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. net — in sport
  3. lean — to bend
  4. kid — child
  5. stock — goods
  6. swing — in golf
  7. press — a publisher
  8. stock — shares
  9. net — for catching
  10. craft — boats
  11. press — newspapers
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. net — after costs
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — to play on
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. lean — thin
  20. craft — a skill
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. kid — to tease
  24. craft — a handicraft

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