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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: march · face · perch · rule · press · stock · rash · wind

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. rule — government
  3. face — to point toward
  4. stock — shares
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. march — the month
  9. rash — hasty
  10. march — music
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. face — part of the head
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. press — a publisher
  17. rule — a law
  18. stock — goods
  19. march — the month
  20. wind — moving air
  21. rash — a series
  22. press — newspapers
  23. wind — moving air
  24. face — to confront

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