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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: press · leaves · temple · wind · bark · pit · kick · cold

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. cold — not warm
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. press — a publisher
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. pit — a hole
  9. kick — in football
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bark — to shout
  15. press — to push
  16. wind — moving air
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. press — newspapers
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — an illness
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. kick — a thrill

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