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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: lash · spring · court · game · ground · chest · press · net

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. court — of law
  3. ground — the earth
  4. spring — a coil
  5. court — of a king
  6. ground — crushed
  7. game — wild animals
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. net — in sport
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. press — newspapers
  14. press — a publisher
  15. spring — the season
  16. ground — a position
  17. game — a match
  18. net — for catching
  19. press — to push
  20. net — after costs
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. court — for sport
  24. spring — of water

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