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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: saw · press · chair · stock · snap · capital · rule · kid

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — goods
  3. kid — child
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. stock — shares
  6. rule — government
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. capital — money
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — to push
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. rule — a law
  15. snap — to click
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. capital — a city
  18. kid — to tease
  19. saw — the tool
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chair — a leader
  22. saw — the tool
  23. press — a publisher
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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