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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. track — to keep track
  3. stock — shares
  4. prune — to trim
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. press — newspapers
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. track — a song
  10. land — a country
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. prune — to trim
  13. land — ground
  14. press — a publisher
  15. stock — goods
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. track — a path
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. court — of a king
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. land — to come down

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