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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: bowl · pit · land · press · leaves · march · bat · kid

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. land — a country
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. march — the month
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. march — music
  12. pit — in a race
  13. land — to come down
  14. press — a publisher
  15. kid — to tease
  16. land — ground
  17. march — the month
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. kid — child
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. bat — the animal
  24. press — newspapers

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