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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: kick · cold · present · jam · press · court · patient · last

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. cold — an illness
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. last — final
  5. last — to go on
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. present — there
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. present — the time now
  12. press — to push
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — finally
  15. court — of law
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cold — not warm
  20. press — a publisher
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. court — of a king
  23. press — newspapers
  24. court — for sport

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