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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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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 · craft · cold · rest · kick · root · fork · pitcher

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. press — to push
  3. root — the cause
  4. craft — a skill
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. craft — boats
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. root — of a plant
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fork — in a road
  14. press — newspapers
  15. kick — in football
  16. press — a publisher
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. rest — what's left
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. rest — a break
  22. rest — what's left
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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