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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: press · rush · game · rest · club · cold · stem · current

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. club — for golf
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rest — a break
  5. game — wild animals
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. current — of water
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. current — electric
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. press — a publisher
  15. club — for dancing
  16. stem — to come from
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — a match
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. club — a group
  22. current — happening now
  23. press — newspapers
  24. press — to push

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