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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: spring · press · bat · straw · mark · row · court · march

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. mark — a trace
  3. court — of law
  4. march — the month
  5. press — newspapers
  6. press — to push
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spring — of water
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. spring — the season
  12. mark — a grade
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. court — of a king
  16. spring — a coil
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. press — a publisher
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — a line
  24. row — to paddle

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