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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: press · staff · band · court · pit · ground · leaves · rash

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. ground — crushed
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. rash — hasty
  6. staff — employees
  7. court — of law
  8. pit — a hole
  9. press — a publisher
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. staff — employees
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. ground — the earth
  16. staff — a stick
  17. rash — a series
  18. band — a music group
  19. ground — a position
  20. pit — in a race
  21. press — newspapers
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a ring
  24. rash — on the skin

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