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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: lean · press · rest · fall · cold · club

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. club — a group
  3. fall — to drop
  4. club — for dancing
  5. fall — to drop
  6. club — for golf
  7. lean — to bend
  8. cold — an illness
  9. press — newspapers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fall — the season
  12. lean — thin
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rest — what's left
  16. press — to push
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left

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