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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 120 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: staff · bass · court · press · last · file · cap · stock

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. staff — employees
  3. bass — low music
  4. press — to push
  5. stock — shares
  6. cap — a lid
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. court — for sport
  9. bass — the fish
  10. cap — of ice
  11. file — a tool
  12. last — to go on
  13. staff — employees
  14. cap — a hat
  15. court — of a king
  16. file — a line of people
  17. press — newspapers
  18. staff — a stick
  19. file — a document
  20. last — final
  21. court — of law
  22. stock — goods
  23. press — a publisher
  24. last — finally

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