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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: wind · press · wave · mouse · cold · coach · spring · cap

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. press — to push
  7. spring — the season
  8. cap — a lid
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. press — newspapers
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cap — of ice
  20. wind — moving air
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cap — a hat
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. press — a publisher

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