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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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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: stand · wind · press · march · rule · bat · board · hand

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  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. march — music
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. bat — the animal
  4. press — to push
  5. hand — help
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. press — a publisher
  8. march — the month
  9. board — a committee
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. march — the month
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. rule — government
  15. board — to get on
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. rule — a law
  20. hand — in cards
  21. stand — to bear
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  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