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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 116 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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468
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 · clip · fall · present · wound · patient · spring · stand

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. spring — the season
  3. wound — an injury
  4. present — a gift
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — a video
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. press — to push
  10. present — the time now
  11. spring — of water
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. clip — for paper
  15. press — a publisher
  16. fall — to drop
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. clip — to cut
  19. fall — to drop
  20. present — there
  21. press — newspapers
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. spring — a coil
  24. fall — the season

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