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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 116 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: press · safe · swing · content · court · spell · bass · shower

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. court — for sport
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. swing — music
  7. spell — letters
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the fish
  11. swing — to play on
  12. court — of law
  13. shower — rain
  14. spell — a short time
  15. content — happy
  16. shower — to wash
  17. press — to push
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. spell — magic
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. court — of a king
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. press — newspapers
  24. swing — in 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