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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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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: season · press · tear · club · court · swing

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. swing — in golf
  4. tear — to rip
  5. club — for dancing
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. tear — from crying
  9. court — of a king
  10. swing — to play on
  11. club — for golf
  12. swing — music
  13. club — a group
  14. season — in sport
  15. press — a publisher
  16. tear — from crying
  17. press — to push
  18. press — newspapers

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