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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: court · wake · sharp · press · pop · fork · cap · file

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. pop — to visit
  3. press — newspapers
  4. file — a document
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. court — of a king
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. file — a tool
  12. pop — music
  13. cap — a hat
  14. sharp — clever
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — in a road
  17. court — for sport
  18. pop — soda
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. wake — a trail
  22. press — to push
  23. file — a line of people
  24. sharp — with an edge

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