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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. club — a group
  4. snap — to click
  5. cap — a hat
  6. mine — for digging
  7. press — to push
  8. club — for golf
  9. club — for dancing
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. press — a publisher
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. cold — not warm
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. press — newspapers
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a lid
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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