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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. chair — a leader
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — to confront
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. court — of law
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. mark — a grade
  10. land — ground
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. court — of a king
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — to come down
  15. press — to push
  16. cold — not warm
  17. land — a country
  18. face — to point toward
  19. mark — a trace
  20. stand — to bear
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. court — for sport
  23. face — part of the head
  24. press — newspapers

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