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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. lean — to bend
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. tear — from crying
  6. wax — to grow
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. lean — thin
  11. march — music
  12. swing — to play on
  13. press — to push
  14. press — newspapers
  15. pitch — completely
  16. march — the month
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. swing — in golf
  19. tear — to rip
  20. march — the month
  21. stock — shares
  22. swing — music
  23. stock — goods
  24. wax — in the ear

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