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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: file · bark · kid · press · bowl · content

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. press — to push
  5. bark — to shout
  6. press — a publisher
  7. file — a line of people
  8. kid — child
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. content — happy
  11. file — a tool
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. content — the amount
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. file — a document
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. press — newspapers

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