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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: stand · wind · wax · arm · cold · press · fall · bound

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  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. fall — to drop
  2. press — a publisher
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wax — to grow
  5. press — to push
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stand — to bear
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fall — to drop
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. bound — obliged
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. bound — tied together
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bound — certain
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. fall — the season
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wax — in the ear
  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