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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: snap · ground · pitcher · arm · cold · land · press · row

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. ground — crushed
  3. press — newspapers
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — not warm
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. press — a publisher
  8. row — to paddle
  9. land — a country
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. snap — to click
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — an illness
  19. land — to come down
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. press — to push
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. ground — a position

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