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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cell — a phone
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — part of the head
  6. press — a publisher
  7. field — farmland
  8. bound — tied together
  9. field — for sport
  10. field — a subject
  11. stand — to bear
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. stock — goods
  16. press — to push
  17. cell — in biology
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. chair — a leader
  20. bound — certain
  21. face — to confront
  22. bound — obliged
  23. press — newspapers
  24. stand — for spectators

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