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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: current · march · press · tear · net · ball · rush · last

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. press — a publisher
  3. rush — hurry
  4. current — happening now
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. tear — from crying
  7. net — in sport
  8. march — music
  9. last — final
  10. tear — from crying
  11. press — to push
  12. last — to go on
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. march — the month
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. net — for catching
  17. ball — a great time
  18. tear — to rip
  19. ball — a dance
  20. current — of water
  21. press — newspapers
  22. net — after costs
  23. last — finally
  24. current — electric

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