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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: wound · date · ground · race · squash · court · press · trunk

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. date — the fruit
  5. squash — to crush
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. press — to push
  9. wound — an injury
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. wound — an injury
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. press — a publisher
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. court — for sport
  17. ground — crushed
  18. press — newspapers
  19. court — of a king
  20. ground — the earth
  21. race — the arms race
  22. squash — the sport
  23. ground — a position
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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