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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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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: wound · cold · press · row · shower · prune · swing · patient

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — not warm
  6. swing — music
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. swing — in golf
  9. press — newspapers
  10. prune — to trim
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wound — an injury
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. row — to paddle
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — an illness
  21. row — a line
  22. swing — to play on
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. press — to push

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