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

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. toast — bread
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. press — a publisher
  8. face — to confront
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. hand — help
  12. press — to push
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — rain
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. face — to point toward
  19. stock — goods
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pitch — completely
  23. press — newspapers
  24. face — part of the head

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