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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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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: press · cap · arm · content · spring · ball · bank · cold

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. content — happy
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. content — the amount
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. spring — of water
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spring — the season
  15. press — newspapers
  16. bank — of a river
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bank — for money
  19. cap — a lid
  20. ball — a dance
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — to push
  24. ball — a great time

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