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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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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: stock · wind · cold · press · firm · court

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. court — for sport
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. firm — a company
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. court — of law
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stock — goods
  9. press — newspapers
  10. stock — shares
  11. press — a publisher
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — an illness
  14. court — of a king
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. firm — decided
  18. press — to push

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