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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 116 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: bat · cold · hide · band · straw · current · press · tear

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. current — of water
  3. current — happening now
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. band — a ring
  6. tear — to rip
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. press — to push
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. press — newspapers
  12. band — a music group
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. press — a publisher
  15. current — electric
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cold — an illness

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