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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: bass · lean · last · march · press · cell · content · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. march — music
  5. court — for sport
  6. press — newspapers
  7. bass — low music
  8. march — the month
  9. press — to push
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. lean — to bend
  12. last — final
  13. court — of a king
  14. lean — thin
  15. cell — in biology
  16. last — finally
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. march — the month
  19. press — a publisher
  20. last — to go on
  21. bass — the fish
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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