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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: race · kid · press · cold · fine · arm · stand · chip

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. fine — all right
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. press — a publisher
  5. kid — child
  6. press — newspapers
  7. kid — to tease
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. press — to push
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stand — to bear
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. race — a contest
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. fine — high quality
  17. chip — for betting
  18. race — humankind
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. chip — to eat
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. race — the arms race

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