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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 120 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: pound · press · pitcher · file · mark · last · rule · cold

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. press — a publisher
  6. file — a tool
  7. press — newspapers
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. cold — not warm
  11. last — finally
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — government
  15. mark — a trace
  16. last — to go on
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. last — final
  20. press — to push
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. file — a document
  23. cold — an illness
  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