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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: arm · cold · fan · tear · press · last · pitcher · dip

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. cold — not warm
  4. last — final
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — to go on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. last — finally
  10. press — newspapers
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. press — to push
  14. press — a publisher
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. tear — to rip
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — to sink
  24. dip — a sauce

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