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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: last · mug · court · drill · trunk · perch · bat · press

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. bat — the animal
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. press — a publisher
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. press — newspapers
  7. drill — army training
  8. last — final
  9. court — for sport
  10. last — finally
  11. court — of law
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. press — to push
  14. mug — to rob
  15. mug — a cup
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. court — of a king
  22. last — to go on
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. bat — for baseball

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