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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 120 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: can · press · cold · file · face · bank · pit · content

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. press — to push
  3. press — a publisher
  4. pit — in a race
  5. face — to confront
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bank — of a river
  8. cold — an illness
  9. can — to be able to
  10. file — a line of people
  11. can — a tin
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — happy
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cold — not warm
  18. file — a tool
  19. press — newspapers
  20. can — a tin
  21. bank — for money
  22. file — a document
  23. face — to point toward
  24. content — the amount

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