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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: wound · mug · press · fine · season · cold · track · straw

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. mug — a face
  3. cold — not warm
  4. press — to push
  5. cold — an illness
  6. track — a song
  7. fine — high quality
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. fine — all right
  10. mug — a cup
  11. track — a path
  12. season — of the year
  13. track — to keep track
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. press — a publisher
  16. press — newspapers
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. mug — to rob
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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