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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: court · stock · land · wound · saw · bat · press · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. press — a publisher
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. saw — the tool
  6. court — of a king
  7. court — for sport
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. press — to push
  10. stock — shares
  11. press — newspapers
  12. land — a country
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. court — of law
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. stock — goods
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. fall — to drop
  20. bat — the animal
  21. land — to come down
  22. wound — an injury
  23. land — ground
  24. fall — the season

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