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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: march · pit · club · content · mine · chair · present · press

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. press — a publisher
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. content — happy
  5. press — to push
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. club — for dancing
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. press — newspapers
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. march — the month
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. present — there
  16. march — the month
  17. club — for golf
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. present — a gift
  20. chair — a leader
  21. march — music
  22. present — the time now
  23. club — a group
  24. mine — for digging

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