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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: hand · march · date · net · squash · press · rest · land

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — in sport
  3. march — the month
  4. rest — a break
  5. land — a country
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. press — to push
  8. squash — to crush
  9. press — a publisher
  10. march — music
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. squash — the sport
  14. press — newspapers
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. hand — help
  18. date — the fruit
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. land — ground
  21. hand — in cards
  22. march — the month
  23. net — after costs
  24. land — to come down

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