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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: cue · shower · ball · march · content · spring · press · drill

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. march — the month
  3. drill — army training
  4. drill — a practice
  5. march — the month
  6. shower — to wash
  7. content — happy
  8. cue — a hint
  9. spring — a coil
  10. ball — a great time
  11. cue — a signal
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. march — music
  14. drill — the tool
  15. spring — the season
  16. ball — a dance
  17. shower — rain
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. spring — of water
  20. content — the amount
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. press — newspapers
  23. cue — for pool
  24. press — to push

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