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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: cold · press · wound · hand · branch · mate · season · rush

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. press — to push
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. hand — in cards
  6. mate — a partner
  7. press — a publisher
  8. season — in sport
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rush — hurry
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. press — newspapers
  16. wound — an injury
  17. branch — a division
  18. mate — to breed
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — of the year
  22. cold — an illness
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. hand — help

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