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

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. stock — shares
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. land — to come down
  6. press — to push
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. stock — goods
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. mark — a grade
  15. squash — to crush
  16. press — newspapers
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — the sport
  20. press — a publisher
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. land — a country
  23. field — a subject
  24. mark — a trace

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