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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. tear — from crying
  3. charge — electricity
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. roll — a cake
  8. tear — from crying
  9. charge — in control
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stock — shares
  12. press — a publisher
  13. charge — a price
  14. dip — to sink
  15. press — to push
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. tear — to rip
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. prune — to trim
  20. roll — a list
  21. mine — for digging
  22. stock — goods
  23. press — newspapers
  24. stock — a soup base

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