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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 · pitcher · pit · straw · chest · pop · cold · drill

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. chest — a box
  7. pit — in a race
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. pit — a hole
  10. press — newspapers
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pop — soda
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. drill — army training
  21. press — a publisher
  22. press — to push
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. chest — of your body

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