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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 · bat · face · bark · rush · fork · roll · content

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. content — happy
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to point toward
  5. press — a publisher
  6. press — to push
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. roll — a list
  10. press — newspapers
  11. face — to confront
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. rush — hurry
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. roll — a cake
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bat — in an idiom

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