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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. staff — a stick
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. staff — employees
  6. press — a publisher
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. clip — to cut
  10. staff — employees
  11. bear — the animal
  12. row — a line
  13. stock — goods
  14. clip — for paper
  15. tear — from crying
  16. row — to paddle
  17. tear — to rip
  18. press — newspapers
  19. press — to push
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bear — the animal
  22. clip — a video
  23. tear — from crying
  24. sharp — exactly

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