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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: content · pound · row · press · mouse · pitch · craft · cold

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. pound — a weight
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. press — newspapers
  8. content — happy
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. press — a publisher
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. row — a line
  17. craft — a skill
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pitch — completely
  20. row — to paddle
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. craft — boats
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. content — the amount

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