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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: tear · race · perch · ball · pop · court · hide · press

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. pop — to visit
  3. tear — to rip
  4. race — humankind
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pop — music
  7. perch — the fish
  8. pop — soda
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. race — the arms race
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. ball — a great time
  13. court — for sport
  14. race — a contest
  15. tear — from crying
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. press — newspapers
  21. ball — a dance
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. press — a publisher
  24. hide — to keep secret

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