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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: press · mate · mine · deal · present · squash · wave · cold

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mate — to breed
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. press — newspapers
  9. present — the time now
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. press — to push
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. present — there
  15. mate — a friend
  16. present — a gift
  17. press — a publisher
  18. mate — a partner
  19. squash — the sport
  20. deal — to handle
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. mine — for digging

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