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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · lean · net · stock · press · chair

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. 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. lean — thin
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. stock — goods
  5. lean — to bend
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. press — a publisher
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. stock — shares
  12. net — in sport
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cell — a phone
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. press — to push
  17. cell — in biology
  18. 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