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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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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: press · pit · cold · tear · march · trunk · object · kick

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. object — to protest
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. press — newspapers
  5. kick — in football
  6. tear — to rip
  7. march — music
  8. tear — from crying
  9. march — the month
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cold — an illness
  12. object — an aim
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. tear — from crying
  15. march — the month
  16. object — a thing
  17. press — a publisher
  18. pit — in a race
  19. press — to push
  20. cold — not warm
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. pit — a hole
  24. cold — the Cold War

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