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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: press · cold · row · vault · mate · bear

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. vault — a safe
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. press — a publisher
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mate — to breed
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mate — a friend
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — not warm
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a line
  18. vault — an arched ceiling

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