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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: press · track · mine · rash · club · last · current · cold

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. press — a publisher
  3. last — finally
  4. current — of water
  5. cold — an illness
  6. track — a path
  7. press — newspapers
  8. press — to push
  9. club — for dancing
  10. last — to go on
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rash — a series
  14. rash — hasty
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. track — a song
  18. current — happening now
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. track — to keep track
  21. club — for golf
  22. club — a group
  23. current — electric
  24. last — final

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