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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: club · date · cold · ground · deal · band · press · mine

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. ground — a position
  3. club — for dancing
  4. band — a music group
  5. mine — for digging
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. club — for golf
  10. press — newspapers
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. club — a group
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. ground — the earth
  15. press — a publisher
  16. press — to push
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. ground — crushed
  21. date — the fruit
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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