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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. root — the cause
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. cold — an illness
  5. net — for catching
  6. press — to push
  7. mine — for digging
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. root — of a plant
  13. press — a publisher
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. court — for sport
  16. press — newspapers
  17. root — of a word
  18. court — of law
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — in sport
  21. court — of a king
  22. stock — shares
  23. cold — not warm
  24. coach — a trainer

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