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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. stock — shares
  4. row — a line
  5. saw — the tool
  6. stock — goods
  7. bass — the fish
  8. row — to paddle
  9. press — to push
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. press — a publisher
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. land — ground
  14. rash — a series
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. rash — hasty
  17. hand — in cards
  18. press — newspapers
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. land — to come down
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. land — a country
  23. saw — the tool
  24. hand — help

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