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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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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: tear · mug · press · court · fan · chest · kid · ground

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. chest — of your body
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — to rob
  5. ground — crushed
  6. court — for sport
  7. press — to push
  8. mug — a face
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. chest — a box
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. tear — to rip
  14. chest — of your body
  15. court — of a king
  16. tear — from crying
  17. press — a publisher
  18. ground — the earth
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. kid — child
  22. press — newspapers
  23. kid — to tease
  24. ground — a position

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