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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: band · bat · sharp · press · rash · court · firm · date

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. press — to push
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. sharp — clever
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. band — a music group
  7. rash — a series
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. firm — decided
  10. press — newspapers
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. band — a ring
  13. press — a publisher
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. rash — hasty
  16. court — of a king
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. date — the fruit
  19. firm — a company
  20. court — of law
  21. bat — the animal
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. court — for sport
  24. date — on the calendar

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