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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. kid — to tease
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. press — to push
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cue — a signal
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — in cards
  15. press — a publisher
  16. press — newspapers
  17. kid — child
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. stock — goods
  20. prune — to trim
  21. stock — shares
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. prune — to trim

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