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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 · pop · season · bat · fork · firm · date · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. firm — a company
  3. date — the fruit
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. season — in sport
  8. pop — to visit
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. pop — music
  12. firm — decided
  13. press — newspapers
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. firm — steady
  16. season — of the year
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — in sport
  19. pop — soda
  20. fork — in a road
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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