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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 120 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: hide · firm · land · wound · cold · bound · press · saw

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. land — a country
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. bound — certain
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. press — a publisher
  11. bound — obliged
  12. firm — decided
  13. land — to come down
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. press — to push
  17. bound — tied together
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. firm — a company
  20. wound — an injury
  21. firm — steady
  22. wound — an injury
  23. land — ground
  24. press — newspapers

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