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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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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: press · field · cold · row · rush · kick · band · deal

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — not warm
  4. field — farmland
  5. deal — to handle
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. band — a ring
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. field — for sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. press — a publisher
  14. row — a line
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. press — to push
  17. band — a music group
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. press — newspapers
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. field — a subject
  22. cold — an illness
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rush — hurry

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