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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: arm · fall · mate · bay · press · cold · wound · court

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cold — not warm
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. mate — a partner
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — for sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. court — of law
  12. press — to push
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. press — newspapers
  17. court — of a king
  18. press — a publisher
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mate — a friend
  23. fall — the season
  24. fall — to drop

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