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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rash — hasty
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. branch — a division
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. lie — to recline
  7. press — to push
  8. stock — shares
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. press — a publisher
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. rash — a series
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. snap — to click
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. press — newspapers
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stock — goods
  24. branch — of a bank

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