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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 120 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 · spring · wave · cold · lash · racket · snap · scale

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. scale — size or range
  3. snap — to click
  4. spring — the season
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. press — a publisher
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. scale — in music
  15. spring — a coil
  16. press — to push
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. press — newspapers
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. spring — of water
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. cold — an illness

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