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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. stock — goods
  3. net — after costs
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. object — a thing
  6. lie — to recline
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. prune — to trim
  9. capital — money
  10. object — to protest
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. clip — to cut
  13. press — a publisher
  14. object — an aim
  15. net — in sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. press — to push
  18. stock — shares
  19. capital — a city
  20. net — for catching
  21. press — newspapers
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. clip — for paper
  24. lie — an untruth

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