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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 116 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: wax · court · sharp · present · deal · press · shower · last

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. court — for sport
  3. last — finally
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. present — there
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. court — of a king
  10. sharp — clever
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. press — a publisher
  15. wax — to grow
  16. present — a gift
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. last — to go on
  19. shower — rain
  20. last — final
  21. deal — to handle
  22. press — newspapers
  23. present — the time now
  24. court — of law

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