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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. stock — shares
  3. track — a path
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. track — a song
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bound — tied together
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. lean — thin
  12. stock — goods
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — obliged
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. press — newspapers
  17. lean — to bend
  18. row — a line
  19. wake — a trail
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. press — a publisher
  23. track — to keep track
  24. clip — a video

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