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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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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: court · race · wake · press · pound · stock

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. race — humankind
  3. stock — goods
  4. pound — a weight
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. stock — shares
  7. wake — a trail
  8. court — for sport
  9. press — a publisher
  10. race — the arms race
  11. court — of a king
  12. press — newspapers
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. race — a contest
  16. court — of law
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. wake — before a funeral

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