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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 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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cold — not warm
  4. staff — employees
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. press — newspapers
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. swing — in golf
  11. kick — in football
  12. band — a ring
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. staff — a stick
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. lie — to recline
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. press — to push
  20. band — a music group
  21. cold — an illness
  22. press — a publisher
  23. staff — employees
  24. swing — music

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