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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: capital · track · straw · pop · trunk · cold · press · pit

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pop — soda
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. pit — in a race
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. track — a song
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. press — a publisher
  11. pop — music
  12. pit — a hole
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — not warm
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. press — to push
  18. capital — a city
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. capital — money
  22. press — newspapers
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cold — an illness

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