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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: wound · mine · wind · cold · charge · last · bank · press

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — finally
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. press — a publisher
  8. press — to push
  9. last — final
  10. bank — for money
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. charge — in control
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mine — for digging
  15. charge — electricity
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. charge — a price
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. press — newspapers
  21. bank — of a river
  22. last — to go on
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bank — for money

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