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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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. march — music
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. wound — an injury
  5. press — to push
  6. court — for sport
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. land — to come down
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. court — of a king
  12. wound — an injury
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. content — the amount
  15. court — of law
  16. march — the month
  17. press — newspapers
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. march — the month
  20. content — happy
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. content — videos and posts

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