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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — to visit
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. staff — employees
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. press — to push
  10. stock — goods
  11. rest — a break
  12. snap — to click
  13. pop — music
  14. press — a publisher
  15. fork — in a road
  16. staff — a stick
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rest — what's left
  19. press — newspapers
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — shares
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rest — what's left
  24. staff — employees

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