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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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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 · cold · race · pit · root · bear · drill · kick

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. race — a contest
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. press — to push
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. race — the arms race
  9. press — a publisher
  10. cold — not warm
  11. root — of a plant
  12. drill — the tool
  13. bear — the animal
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bear — the animal
  16. press — newspapers
  17. pit — in a race
  18. race — humankind
  19. pit — a hole
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. root — of a word
  23. kick — in football
  24. root — the cause

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