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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: last · wind · kick · root · press · file

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. file — a line of people
  3. root — the cause
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. file — a document
  10. last — final
  11. file — a tool
  12. last — to go on
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. last — finally
  16. root — of a plant
  17. press — newspapers
  18. root — of a word

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