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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: cold · press · suit · cell · tear · ground

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. ground — the earth
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ground — crushed
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. press — a publisher
  12. tear — from crying
  13. press — newspapers
  14. suit — in cards
  15. press — to push
  16. ground — a position
  17. suit — clothes
  18. cell — a phone

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