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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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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 · bank · fan · hand · racket · bowl · cold · straw

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cold — an illness
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. press — a publisher
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cold — not warm
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. bank — of a river
  11. bank — for money
  12. bank — for money
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. press — to push
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. press — newspapers
  23. hand — help
  24. bowl — a football final

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