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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. prune — to trim
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. scale — size or range
  7. pop — music
  8. press — to push
  9. press — a publisher
  10. stock — goods
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. rule — government
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pop — soda
  17. press — newspapers
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. scale — in music
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bat — the animal
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. rule — a law
  24. pop — to visit

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