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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: kid · cold · content · wave · press · perch · pit · mug

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. press — to push
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. mug — a cup
  8. press — a publisher
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. press — newspapers
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. content — the amount
  14. cold — not warm
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pit — a hole
  17. kid — to tease
  18. pit — in a race
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — child
  21. mug — a face
  22. mug — to rob
  23. content — happy
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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