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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: file · press · court · lash · mine · snap · last · row

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. press — to push
  4. file — a tool
  5. row — a line
  6. mine — for digging
  7. last — final
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. file — a line of people
  11. snap — to click
  12. press — newspapers
  13. press — a publisher
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. court — of a king
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. row — to paddle
  19. file — a document
  20. court — for sport
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. last — finally
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. court — of law

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