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

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. press — to push
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. court — for sport
  7. press — a publisher
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stem — to come from
  15. perch — the fish
  16. court — of law
  17. pop — soda
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cap — of ice
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. press — newspapers
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. court — of a king

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