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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: wind · spell · hand · plane · spring · press · cold · season

  1. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. spell — a short time
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. cold — an illness
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. spell — magic
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spell — letters
  10. hand — help
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cold — not warm
  14. press — to push
  15. spring — of water
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. season — of the year
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. hand — in cards
  21. press — a publisher
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — in sport
  24. plane — a tool

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