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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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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: wake · craft · season · mug · content · kid · wind · press

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. craft — boats
  3. press — to push
  4. mug — a cup
  5. season — of the year
  6. kid — to tease
  7. content — happy
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. press — newspapers
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wind — moving air
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. craft — a skill
  15. season — in sport
  16. mug — a face
  17. press — a publisher
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mug — to rob
  21. kid — child
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wake — a trail

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