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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: staff · cold · press · last · track · wound · object · clip

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. track — a path
  5. track — a song
  6. wound — an injury
  7. last — to go on
  8. clip — for paper
  9. object — an aim
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cold — an illness
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. last — finally
  15. track — to keep track
  16. cold — not warm
  17. staff — employees
  18. press — a publisher
  19. last — final
  20. object — to protest
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. press — to push
  24. press — newspapers

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