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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. fall — to drop
  3. branch — a division
  4. sharp — clever
  5. wax — to grow
  6. fall — the season
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. capital — money
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pop — soda
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. press — a publisher
  14. press — newspapers
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. pop — music
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. capital — a city
  23. fall — to drop
  24. branch — of a bank

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