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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · rash · press · court · club · row · roll · craft

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. row — a line
  3. cold — an illness
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — for dancing
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. court — of a king
  9. rash — a series
  10. roll — a list
  11. club — a group
  12. cold — not warm
  13. court — of law
  14. press — a publisher
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. press — newspapers
  18. craft — a skill
  19. court — for sport
  20. press — to push
  21. craft — boats
  22. rash — hasty
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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