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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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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: press · ball · row · lash · kid · lie · cold · wax

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cold — an illness
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. wax — to grow
  7. ball — a great time
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. press — newspapers
  16. kid — child
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. row — to paddle
  20. press — to push
  21. lie — to recline
  22. row — a line
  23. ball — a dance
  24. row — a quarrel

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