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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: bound · press · mark · wave · row · straw · lash · cold

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. press — to push
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — a line
  6. cold — not warm
  7. press — newspapers
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bound — certain
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. mark — a grade
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. bound — obliged
  15. mark — a trace
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. row — to paddle
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. cold — an illness
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. press — a publisher

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