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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: cold · press · bay · mine · wound · kid · key · fine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. press — newspapers
  7. fine — all right
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. wound — an injury
  10. press — to push
  11. fine — high quality
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. key — for a lock
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — to tease
  18. key — in music
  19. key — the most important part
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. cold — an illness
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. press — a publisher

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