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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lie · straw · coach · degree · cold · jam · press · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. degree — from a university
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cold — an illness
  12. press — to push
  13. lie — to recline
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. press — newspapers
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — for digging
  21. degree — temperature
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. press — a publisher
  24. jam — a tight spot

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