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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. stock — shares
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. stock — goods
  5. press — a publisher
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. march — the month
  12. press — to push
  13. club — for golf
  14. press — newspapers
  15. club — a group
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. club — for dancing
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cold — an illness
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. straw — dry grass

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