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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. press — a publisher
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. stock — goods
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fork — in a road
  12. press — newspapers
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. cap — of ice
  16. branch — a division
  17. cap — a hat
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. press — to push
  22. wind — moving air
  23. stock — shares
  24. cap — a lid

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