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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. hand — in cards
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. press — newspapers
  6. net — in sport
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. hand — help
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. net — for catching
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. net — after costs
  17. last — finally
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kick — in football
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. press — to push
  24. court — of law

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