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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: swing · press · pop · shower · clip · firm · cold · suit

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. firm — steady
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. suit — in cards
  5. clip — to cut
  6. press — to push
  7. swing — to play on
  8. shower — to wash
  9. firm — decided
  10. clip — for paper
  11. swing — in golf
  12. pop — music
  13. press — newspapers
  14. suit — to fit
  15. pop — to visit
  16. cold — not warm
  17. clip — a video
  18. firm — a company
  19. press — a publisher
  20. cold — an illness
  21. swing — music
  22. shower — rain
  23. suit — clothes
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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