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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: trunk · press · court · wake · season · cold · row · toast

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. season — in sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. cold — an illness
  6. toast — bread
  7. court — of law
  8. court — for sport
  9. press — newspapers
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. wake — a trail
  16. press — a publisher
  17. season — of the year
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cold — not warm
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. row — a line

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