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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: mark · kid · squash · firm · nail · saw · press · cold

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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. mark — to pay attention
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. press — to push
  5. cold — an illness
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. firm — a company
  8. kid — child
  9. firm — steady
  10. saw — the tool
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. mark — a grade
  13. cold — not warm
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. firm — decided
  18. saw — the tool
  19. kid — to tease
  20. press — a publisher
  21. mark — a trace
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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