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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 116 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: cold · press · march · hide · lash · pound

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. pound — a weight
  3. press — to push
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. press — a publisher
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. cold — not warm
  11. march — the month
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. press — newspapers
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. march — the month
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. pound — to hit hard

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