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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: jam · land · file · kick · pitcher · sharp · press · deal

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. sharp — clever
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. deal — to handle
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. land — ground
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. land — to come down
  18. file — a tool
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. press — newspapers
  21. land — a country
  22. file — a document
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. file — a line of people

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