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

Word bank: stock · jam · cell · staff · bat · march · date · press

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. staff — a stick
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. date — the fruit
  7. march — the month
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stock — shares
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. stock — goods
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. press — newspapers
  16. staff — employees
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. march — music
  20. staff — employees
  21. bat — the animal
  22. march — the month
  23. press — to push
  24. cell — a phone

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