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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: bowl · press · chest · cold · roll · prune · perch · chip

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chip — for betting
  3. cold — not warm
  4. press — newspapers
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. prune — to trim
  7. press — a publisher
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chest — a box
  11. roll — a list
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. chip — to eat
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. roll — a cake
  21. perch — the fish
  22. chest — of your body
  23. press — to push
  24. chest — of your body

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