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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: straw · ball · court · mine · shower · fork · perch · press

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. ball — a dance
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. court — of law
  6. shower — rain
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. court — for sport
  11. mine — for digging
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. press — newspapers
  17. ball — a great time
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. perch — the fish
  20. fork — in a road
  21. press — to push
  22. shower — to wash
  23. court — of a king
  24. ball — a round shape

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