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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: bore · rush · cap · press · clip · wave · last · cold

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. last — finally
  2. rush — hurry
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. last — final
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cap — a hat
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. clip — to cut
  11. last — to go on
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cap — of ice
  16. bore — to tire
  17. press — a publisher
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bore — to drill
  22. press — to push
  23. clip — a video
  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