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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: press · bark · mine · squash · band · stock · fork · row

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. band — a ring
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. band — a music group
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. squash — to crush
  7. row — to paddle
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. press — a publisher
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — in a road
  14. bark — to shout
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. row — a line
  19. squash — the sport
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bark — of a tree

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