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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: temple · rash · cold · rush · mark · press · march · game

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. press — to push
  3. march — the month
  4. march — music
  5. press — a publisher
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rush — hurry
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — a trace
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. rash — hasty
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. march — the month
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. game — a match
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. rush — to hurry

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