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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 · cold · pound · roll · lash · last · press · cue

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. last — to go on
  3. roll — a list
  4. roll — a cake
  5. last — finally
  6. press — newspapers
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. court — of law
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. cue — a hint
  13. press — to push
  14. court — for sport
  15. cue — a signal
  16. cue — for pool
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. press — a publisher
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. last — final
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. court — of a king

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