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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 120 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. capital — money
  7. tear — from crying
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. tear — to rip
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. press — to push
  12. press — a publisher
  13. present — there
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. spring — a coil
  18. stock — shares
  19. press — newspapers
  20. spring — the season
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stock — goods
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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