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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: clip · rule · press · stock · deal · court · pit · perch

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. press — to push
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. court — for sport
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pit — in a race
  10. rule — a law
  11. clip — for paper
  12. press — newspapers
  13. stock — goods
  14. pit — a hole
  15. court — of law
  16. perch — the fish
  17. rule — government
  18. court — of a king
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. clip — a video
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. deal — to handle

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