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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: nail · racket · cold · press · march · content · mouse · pit

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. press — to push
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. march — the month
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — not warm
  11. march — music
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pit — in a race
  14. cold — an illness
  15. press — newspapers
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. press — a publisher
  24. nail — on a finger

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