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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 · drill · craft · court · cold · cell

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. court — for sport
  6. drill — the tool
  7. court — of law
  8. craft — a skill
  9. press — a publisher
  10. cell — in biology
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. drill — a practice
  14. court — of a king
  15. press — to push
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. drill — army training
  18. craft — boats

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