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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  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. stock — a soup base
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. stock — shares
  5. press — to push
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rest — a break
  8. press — a publisher
  9. mark — a trace
  10. press — newspapers
  11. rest — what's left
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. stock — goods
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cold — not warm
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. mark — a grade
  23. rest — what's left
  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