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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. press — a publisher
  3. cell — a phone
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — shares
  7. board — to get on
  8. fall — the season
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. wound — an injury
  12. press — to push
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. board — a committee
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cell — in biology
  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