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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. tear — from crying
  3. press — a publisher
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. stock — shares
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. perch — the fish
  9. sharp — clever
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. press — to push
  12. tear — from crying
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. tear — to rip
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — a cake
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wound — an injury
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. squash — to crush

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