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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: hide · spring · cap · deal · board · prune · press · cold

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cap — a hat
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. press — newspapers
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. cap — a lid
  10. prune — to trim
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — to handle
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. board — to get on
  15. cold — an illness
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cold — not warm
  20. board — a committee
  21. prune — to trim
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cap — of ice
  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