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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: net · cold · cell · craft · press · mine

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. net — after costs
  3. cold — not warm
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. cell — a phone
  8. press — newspapers
  9. net — in sport
  10. press — a publisher
  11. cold — an illness
  12. craft — a skill
  13. net — for catching
  14. craft — boats
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cell — in biology
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. press — to push

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