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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: ball · press · march · wound · pop · saw · leaves · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. wound — an injury
  3. march — the month
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. press — newspapers
  8. saw — the tool
  9. wound — an injury
  10. press — a publisher
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. squash — the sport
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. ball — a great time
  17. pop — to visit
  18. press — to push
  19. march — music
  20. pop — music
  21. ball — a dance
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. pop — soda
  24. march — the month

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