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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 116 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: deal · can · spell · club · hide · cold · press · tear

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. can — a tin
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. club — a group
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — a short time
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. press — to push
  14. club — for dancing
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — from crying
  17. can — to be able to
  18. tear — to rip
  19. club — for golf
  20. deal — to handle
  21. press — newspapers
  22. tear — from crying
  23. press — a publisher
  24. can — a tin

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