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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 116 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: perch · ground · bulb · cell · kick · press · tear · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bulb — for light
  3. ground — a position
  4. cell — a phone
  5. tear — from crying
  6. press — newspapers
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. cell — in biology
  11. kick — in football
  12. pit — a hole
  13. bulb — for light
  14. press — a publisher
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pit — in a race
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. ground — the earth
  21. perch — the fish
  22. tear — from crying
  23. press — to push
  24. bulb — of a plant

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