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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 120 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. press — to push
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. kick — in football
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. stock — shares
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. game — wild animals
  9. race — the arms race
  10. stock — goods
  11. perch — the fish
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. press — a publisher
  14. cold — an illness
  15. game — a match
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. pound — a weight
  20. press — newspapers
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. game — a kind of play

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