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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: last · deal · press · content · wax · spring · chest · pit

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. chest — of your body
  3. last — finally
  4. spring — a coil
  5. pit — in a race
  6. wax — to grow
  7. content — happy
  8. press — a publisher
  9. press — newspapers
  10. spring — of water
  11. chest — a box
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. spring — the season
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. last — to go on
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. pit — a hole
  21. last — final
  22. content — the amount
  23. deal — to handle
  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