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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · deal · rock · press · clip · stock

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. club — for golf
  3. rock — music
  4. press — newspapers
  5. club — for dancing
  6. clip — to cut
  7. press — to push
  8. clip — for paper
  9. deal — to handle
  10. press — a publisher
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. rock — a stone
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. club — a group
  16. clip — a video
  17. stock — shares
  18. rock — to move gently

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