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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: press · kid · court · present · wind · pop

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. press — to push
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. present — a gift
  5. court — for sport
  6. kid — child
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — to visit
  10. court — of a king
  11. pop — soda
  12. press — a publisher
  13. kid — to tease
  14. court — of law
  15. press — newspapers
  16. wind — moving air
  17. present — the time now
  18. wind — to turn a key

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