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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: wave · swing · trunk · cold · kick · press

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. 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. kick — in football
  2. cold — not warm
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. swing — in golf
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. press — a publisher
  12. swing — to play on
  13. press — to push
  14. swing — music
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cold — an illness
  18. 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