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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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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: club · land · charge · cap · court · perch · press · race

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. club — for dancing
  4. press — to push
  5. land — to come down
  6. race — the arms race
  7. press — newspapers
  8. court — of law
  9. race — a contest
  10. court — of a king
  11. perch — the fish
  12. cap — of ice
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. land — ground
  15. court — for sport
  16. charge — in control
  17. press — a publisher
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — a lid
  20. club — a group
  21. race — humankind
  22. charge — electricity
  23. land — a country
  24. club — for golf

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