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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. stock — goods
  3. net — for catching
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. field — for sport
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. net — after costs
  8. press — a publisher
  9. face — to confront
  10. field — a subject
  11. lean — thin
  12. press — to push
  13. press — newspapers
  14. wind — moving air
  15. face — part of the head
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. stock — shares
  18. field — farmland
  19. wind — moving air
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. net — in sport
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. lean — to bend
  24. bark — to shout

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