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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. charge — in control
  3. last — final
  4. charge — a price
  5. squash — the sport
  6. stock — goods
  7. last — finally
  8. stock — shares
  9. face — to point toward
  10. last — to go on
  11. net — for catching
  12. charge — electricity
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. face — to confront
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. face — part of the head
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. cold — not warm
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — after costs
  24. cold — an illness

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