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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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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 · bulb · game · branch · race · cold · wave · nail

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. press — to push
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bulb — for light
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. race — the arms race
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bulb — for light
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. game — a match
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. race — a contest
  16. press — a publisher
  17. cold — an illness
  18. branch — a division
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cold — not warm
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. race — humankind
  24. wave — with your hand

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