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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tear · march · season · face · stock · cell · chair · pop

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. face — to confront
  3. cell — a phone
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. stock — shares
  11. pop — soda
  12. face — to point toward
  13. season — of the year
  14. pop — to visit
  15. pop — music
  16. cell — in biology
  17. face — part of the head
  18. chair — a leader
  19. stock — goods
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — in a prison

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