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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: press · present · march · tear · last · can · content · file

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. present — there
  3. present — a gift
  4. file — a document
  5. can — a tin
  6. content — the amount
  7. press — to push
  8. file — a line of people
  9. tear — from crying
  10. march — the month
  11. tear — to rip
  12. last — final
  13. press — newspapers
  14. present — the time now
  15. file — a tool
  16. march — music
  17. can — to be able to
  18. can — a tin
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. last — to go on
  21. tear — from crying
  22. march — the month
  23. last — finally
  24. press — a publisher

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