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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: date · rash · press · court · sharp · branch · fall · snap

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. rash — hasty
  3. court — for sport
  4. fall — to drop
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — to push
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. rash — a series
  14. court — of a king
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. court — of law
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. sharp — clever
  20. press — newspapers
  21. branch — a division
  22. fall — to drop
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. date — the fruit

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