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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 · face · stick · band · pop · temple · kick · cold

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. band — a ring
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. face — to confront
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. press — to push
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. cold — not warm
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. band — a music group
  14. press — newspapers
  15. face — part of the head
  16. face — to point toward
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. kick — in football
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. press — a publisher
  22. pop — music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. kick — a thrill

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