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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stock — shares
  3. press — a publisher
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. press — to push
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. press — newspapers
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. scale — size or range
  12. stock — goods
  13. club — a group
  14. scale — in music
  15. club — for golf
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bark — to shout
  19. tear — from crying
  20. game — a match
  21. sharp — clever
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. club — for dancing
  24. sharp — exactly

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