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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: wax · press · rule · cold · pound · rash · perch · chest

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. rash — a series
  6. press — to push
  7. rule — a law
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chest — a box
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — to grow
  12. rash — hasty
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — a publisher
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. perch — the fish
  20. pound — a weight
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rule — government
  24. perch — for a bird

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