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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 120 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 · last · stock · band · court · pitcher · wind · hand

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. hand — in cards
  3. wind — moving air
  4. last — finally
  5. press — to push
  6. band — a ring
  7. band — a music group
  8. stock — shares
  9. press — newspapers
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. court — of law
  13. court — of a king
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. court — for sport
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. last — final
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. press — a publisher
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. hand — help
  23. stock — goods
  24. wind — moving air

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