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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. court — of a king
  3. last — finally
  4. press — a publisher
  5. court — of law
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. press — newspapers
  8. stock — goods
  9. net — for catching
  10. stock — shares
  11. clip — a video
  12. press — to push
  13. last — to go on
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. net — after costs
  17. court — for sport
  18. net — in sport
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. last — final

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