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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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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: content · club · hide · key · march · cold · press · chip

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. press — a publisher
  3. key — the most important part
  4. key — for a lock
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. content — happy
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. club — a group
  9. press — newspapers
  10. content — the amount
  11. march — music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. march — the month
  14. press — to push
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. key — in music
  18. chip — for betting
  19. club — for dancing
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. march — the month
  22. chip — to eat
  23. club — for golf
  24. cold — an illness

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