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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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Word bank
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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: mate · nail · cold · press · patient · kick

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. press — a publisher
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — a partner
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. cold — an illness
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. press — newspapers
  17. press — to push
  18. mate — to breed

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