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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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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: present · sharp · pit · drill · bark · race · cold · press

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. bark — to shout
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. press — newspapers
  7. cold — not warm
  8. drill — the tool
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. press — a publisher
  13. race — a contest
  14. press — to push
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — humankind
  18. drill — army training
  19. present — the time now
  20. cold — an illness
  21. present — a gift
  22. pit — a hole
  23. sharp — clever
  24. drill — a practice

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