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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: field · cold · bank · squash · press · wound · present · snap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. press — a publisher
  3. field — a subject
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. press — newspapers
  6. field — for sport
  7. squash — the sport
  8. bank — of a river
  9. field — farmland
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. cold — an illness
  12. squash — to crush
  13. present — the time now
  14. wound — an injury
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. present — there
  17. bank — for money
  18. present — a gift
  19. snap — to click
  20. press — to push
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bank — for money
  24. cold — not warm

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