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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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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: ground · bowl · clip · game · last · mug · press · stock

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — a match
  3. last — final
  4. press — newspapers
  5. game — wild animals
  6. mug — a cup
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. press — to push
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. last — finally
  14. mug — a face
  15. stock — goods
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. stock — shares
  18. clip — to cut
  19. mug — to rob
  20. press — a publisher
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. last — to go on
  24. ground — a position

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