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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.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. press — to push
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — for sport
  5. cold — not warm
  6. field — farmland
  7. pit — a hole
  8. rush — hurry
  9. stock — shares
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. press — a publisher
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mark — a grade
  16. pit — in a race
  17. face — to confront
  18. field — a subject
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. press — newspapers
  23. face — to point toward
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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