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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 · court · press · rest · bat · tear · root · straw

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. root — of a word
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. season — of the year
  5. rest — what's left
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. tear — to rip
  14. rest — what's left
  15. tear — from crying
  16. press — a publisher
  17. root — the cause
  18. rest — a break
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. press — to push
  21. court — for sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. press — newspapers
  24. root — of a plant

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