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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: ball · land · cold · charge · press · fine · face · swing

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. land — ground
  3. press — a publisher
  4. press — to push
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. face — to point toward
  8. press — newspapers
  9. swing — to play on
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. fine — all right
  12. ball — a dance
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. land — to come down
  15. charge — in control
  16. ball — a great time
  17. swing — in golf
  18. land — a country
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. swing — music
  21. fine — high quality
  22. face — part of the head
  23. charge — electricity
  24. charge — a price

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