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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: rush · pitcher · press · clip · dip · temple · cold · rash

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. press — to push
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. press — newspapers
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rash — a series
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rash — hasty
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. dip — to sink
  24. clip — a video

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