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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. swing — to play on
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. charge — a price
  6. mine — for digging
  7. press — a publisher
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. pop — soda
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pop — music
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. spring — of water
  15. swing — music
  16. press — to push
  17. spring — the season
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. charge — electricity
  20. spring — a coil
  21. pop — to visit
  22. charge — in control
  23. swing — in golf
  24. press — newspapers

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