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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. row — to paddle
  3. rule — a law
  4. court — of a king
  5. march — music
  6. court — for sport
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. spell — a short time
  9. land — to come down
  10. court — of law
  11. land — a country
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. spell — magic
  14. press — a publisher
  15. land — ground
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. spell — letters
  18. march — the month
  19. row — a line
  20. rule — government
  21. march — the month
  22. press — newspapers
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. trunk — of a tree

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