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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 120 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: snap · press · stand · cold · spring · pitch · lie · land

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. press — a publisher
  3. spring — a coil
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. snap — to click
  6. lie — to recline
  7. land — ground
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. land — to come down
  13. pitch — completely
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — to push
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. stand — to bear
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — a country

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