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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: charge · cold · pass · degree · spring · bound · press · lash

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. spring — of water
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bound — certain
  5. degree — from a university
  6. charge — electricity
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — temperature
  9. press — to push
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. cold — an illness
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — a publisher
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. charge — in control
  18. pass — a permit
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. bound — obliged
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bound — tied together
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. spring — the season

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