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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 116 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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. track — to keep track
  3. march — music
  4. stock — shares
  5. cell — a phone
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. press — a publisher
  8. net — for catching
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. press — to push
  11. net — in sport
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. rush — hurry
  14. stock — goods
  15. squash — to crush
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cell — in biology
  19. press — newspapers
  20. march — the month
  21. net — after costs
  22. march — the month
  23. track — a path
  24. track — a song

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