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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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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: pound · shower · march · band · court · press · toast · cold

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — newspapers
  5. march — music
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. toast — bread
  9. court — for sport
  10. press — to push
  11. cold — not warm
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. court — of a king
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. shower — rain
  17. march — the month
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. court — of law
  20. band — a music group
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. band — a ring
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pound — a weight

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