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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 · clip · content · firm · bowl · pitcher · last · object

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. last — finally
  4. content — the amount
  5. clip — to cut
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. object — an aim
  9. last — final
  10. object — a thing
  11. press — to push
  12. clip — for paper
  13. last — to go on
  14. object — to protest
  15. firm — a company
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. press — newspapers
  18. clip — a video
  19. press — a publisher
  20. firm — decided
  21. content — happy
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. firm — steady

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