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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: content · perch · press · ground · pound · wound · file · last

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. press — to push
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. last — to go on
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. press — newspapers
  8. ground — a position
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. press — a publisher
  12. file — a tool
  13. content — the amount
  14. file — a line of people
  15. last — finally
  16. last — final
  17. wound — an injury
  18. content — happy
  19. wound — an injury
  20. ground — the earth
  21. file — a document
  22. ground — crushed
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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