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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · last · pound · scale · press · court

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. 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. scale — in music
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. last — final
  4. press — to push
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. last — finally
  8. pound — a weight
  9. last — to go on
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. scale — size or range
  13. press — newspapers
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. press — a publisher
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. 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