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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. bowl — a football final
  2. ball — a great time
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — to push
  7. court — of law
  8. ball — a dance
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. court — for sport
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. chest — of your body
  13. band — a music group
  14. chest — of your body
  15. band — a ring
  16. plane — a tool
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. court — of a king
  19. chest — a box
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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