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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: squash · press · court · cold · shower · kick · board · mark

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. kick — in football
  3. cold — an illness
  4. board — to get on
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. mark — a trace
  10. shower — to wash
  11. mark — a grade
  12. board — a committee
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. press — to push
  15. shower — rain
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. court — of a king
  18. press — newspapers
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. press — a publisher
  23. cold — not warm
  24. squash — the sport

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