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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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Word bank
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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: stock · chest · press · track · net · jam · sharp · squash

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. press — newspapers
  6. track — a path
  7. stock — goods
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — to crush
  11. press — a publisher
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. track — to keep track
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. net — in sport
  19. chest — of your body
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. stock — shares
  22. net — for catching
  23. track — a song
  24. net — after costs

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