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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: cold · mark · straw · content · file · leaves · pit · press

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pit — a hole
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. pit — in a race
  6. press — a publisher
  7. press — to push
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. file — a tool
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. press — newspapers
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. content — happy
  17. content — the amount
  18. cold — not warm
  19. file — a line of people
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. mark — a trace
  22. file — a document
  23. mark — a grade
  24. straw — a straw man

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