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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. roll — a cake
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. march — music
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. roll — a list
  14. club — a group
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — clever
  19. club — for golf
  20. march — the month
  21. press — newspapers
  22. bark — to shout
  23. net — in sport
  24. march — the month

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