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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: fork · ground · land · track · press · can · cold · kick

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. can — a tin
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. land — ground
  9. press — newspapers
  10. fork — in a road
  11. can — to be able to
  12. press — to push
  13. kick — in football
  14. track — a song
  15. track — a path
  16. track — to keep track
  17. ground — crushed
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. press — a publisher
  22. cold — not warm
  23. land — a country
  24. fork — to eat with

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