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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: content · toast · press · track · cold · kick · cap · ground

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. cold — not warm
  3. track — a path
  4. toast — bread
  5. track — to keep track
  6. kick — in football
  7. press — to push
  8. ground — crushed
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cap — a hat
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. press — newspapers
  14. cap — of ice
  15. ground — a position
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. track — a song
  20. content — happy
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. content — the amount
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. content — videos and posts

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