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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · chest · drill · wake · press · spring · suit · file

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. file — a tool
  3. spring — the season
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. chest — a box
  6. cold — not warm
  7. file — a line of people
  8. press — a publisher
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. drill — the tool
  11. wake — a trail
  12. drill — a practice
  13. spring — of water
  14. press — to push
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. drill — army training
  18. press — newspapers
  19. file — a document
  20. suit — to fit
  21. cold — an illness
  22. suit — in cards
  23. suit — clothes
  24. chest — of your body

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