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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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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. season — of the year
  4. stock — shares
  5. chair — a leader
  6. lean — to bend
  7. season — in sport
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. press — newspapers
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cell — in biology
  13. lean — thin
  14. band — a music group
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wind — moving air
  18. band — a ring
  19. cell — a phone
  20. press — to push
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. stock — goods

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