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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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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: squash · press · mine · stem · kid · march · cold · tear

  1. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. press — newspapers
  2. march — the month
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. press — to push
  6. stem — to come from
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. squash — to crush
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kid — child
  15. tear — from crying
  16. squash — the sport
  17. press — a publisher
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cold — an illness
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cold — the Cold War

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