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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 116 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: bark · bank · present · content · press · pitcher · season · nail

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. present — a gift
  6. bank — for money
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. bank — for money
  10. bark — to shout
  11. content — happy
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. season — in sport
  16. present — there
  17. press — newspapers
  18. content — the amount
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. press — a publisher
  22. bank — of a river
  23. present — the time now
  24. bark — of a tree

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