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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.

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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. march — music
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. court — of law
  5. ground — crushed
  6. firm — a company
  7. press — newspapers
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. prune — to trim
  10. court — of a king
  11. march — the month
  12. press — a publisher
  13. ground — the earth
  14. shower — to wash
  15. firm — steady
  16. firm — decided
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. march — the month
  20. file — a line of people
  21. prune — to trim
  22. ground — a position
  23. court — for sport
  24. shower — rain

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