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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: spell · press · wake · court · row · craft · shower · chair

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. craft — a skill
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. row — a line
  5. spell — magic
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. shower — to wash
  8. spell — a short time
  9. court — of a king
  10. chair — a leader
  11. press — newspapers
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. spell — letters
  16. shower — rain
  17. row — to paddle
  18. court — of law
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. court — for sport
  21. press — to push
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. wake — a trail
  24. press — a publisher

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