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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: straw · staff · press · pop · mark · march · face · content

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. content — happy
  4. pop — music
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. mark — a grade
  7. content — the amount
  8. staff — a stick
  9. press — newspapers
  10. mark — a trace
  11. press — a publisher
  12. face — to confront
  13. march — the month
  14. staff — employees
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. march — the month
  17. pop — soda
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. press — to push
  20. face — to point toward
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. march — music
  23. staff — employees
  24. face — part of the head

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