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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 120 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: cold · fall · snap · race · patient · press

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. race — a contest
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. press — newspapers
  7. press — to push
  8. fall — the season
  9. press — a publisher
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. fall — to drop
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. race — humankind
  14. fall — to drop
  15. snap — to click
  16. cold — an illness
  17. race — the arms race
  18. cold — not warm

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