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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. roll — a list
  3. clip — to cut
  4. stock — shares
  5. charge — electricity
  6. swing — to play on
  7. charge — a price
  8. press — a publisher
  9. roll — a cake
  10. swing — in golf
  11. stock — goods
  12. kid — child
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. clip — for paper
  16. kid — to tease
  17. charge — in control
  18. press — to push
  19. rest — what's left
  20. press — newspapers
  21. rest — what's left
  22. clip — a video
  23. swing — music
  24. roll — on a roll

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